069: How To Create Successful Online Products (Joseph Michael)

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If you’ve ever had an idea for a product, an ebook or a course of some kind today’s episode will give you terrific insight into what it takes to create a successful online product.

Joseph Michael of Learn Scrivener Fast joins us to chat about the origins of his program by the same name, what his process was like creating and launching it and some valuable lessons he’s learned along the way.  Listen in for all of that and more on this episode of How’d You Get Into That?.

MORE ABOUT THIS SHOW

If you’ve ever used a program or tried a new app for something and have gotten stuck or given up on it entirely because there were no instructions you understand the same frustration Joseph Michael felt when he first tried to use Scrivener. Scrivener is like Microsoft Word on steroids. It’s a program for writers, bloggers and anyone who creates a lot of content and wants to keep it organized.

Joseph was running a blog at the time called Efficient Life Skills and he had started a second blog so he was looking for a program to keep his information sorted properly. When he heard about Scrivener he decided to try it. Even though he admits to being a technology-oriented person, a “techie” in his words, he struggled to make heads or tails of Scrivener. He did eventually get the hang of it, but felt like he probably didn’t know about its full capabilities because there was no guide that properly explained it.

He noticed people on Michael Hyatt’s blog (and other places online) were having similar problems. People were struggling to use Scrivener, often giving up or using it knowing they were only accessing about 5-10% of its potential. Being of the entrepreneurial mindset, Joseph saw an opportunity to create a program that solved people’s problems. He was going to create a course on how to use Scrivener, fast and easily.

THE FINER DETAILS OF THIS SHOW:

• How to reverse engineer your interests and talents into a new career path.
• The necessity of pivoting: how and why you should do it.
• Why action is such a key component for success.
• What to do if you’re afraid to charge for your product.
• A car is a good place for audio recordings: true or false?
• And so much more!

That’s exactly what he set out to do. Joseph set aside a few weekends to create the program, thinking he could fit it in around family and work obligations. At the time he was working in the corporate offices at paybyphonecasino.uk headquarters and was also raising a family. In the midst of his usual responsibilities he found time to work on his Scrivener teaching tool.

But it took far longer than he anticipated. In fact it took him the better part of a year! He overcame a lot of self-doubt throughout that time period, some days wondering if it was really worth it. In the end it was. He launched in January of 2014 and before the year was he was earning enough to securely leave his corporate job. In fact the first month after he left his job of he made just as much as he would have in one year!

Although it was a difficult journey to create and launch Learn Scrivener Fast, Joseph is elated he took a chance and went for it. If you’re wondering what to do next or you feel like there’s more for you than what your job currently offers, his advice to you is you will find your “it”.

Sometimes you have to go through a process to really know you’ve found that “it” however, Joseph had to. When he started out on his Scrivener path he wasn’t entirely sure it was what he was meant to do, but as he progressed and evolved along with his program all the dots connected for him.

He also has advice for you if you’ve got a product but you’re uncertain about putting it out there. Joseph says to go for it! You won’t actually start the real learning phase of what you’re doing until you release your product so get it on the market. It’s okay if you tell people this is the first iteration of what you’re doing and there will be updates in the future. Be sure to get feedback from people too, and to apply it.

At the heart of it all his message for you, whether you’re wondering where to go next with your career or how to launch your product, is to try. You’re not going to know if something works or not until you try.

And if you fail, as he did with his first ebook he released, just know that that failure is part of your journey. Learn whatever you can from that experience, get up and move on to the next thing. Simply get started wherever you’re at and move forward, time is going to pass whether you make a change or not so why not go for it?!

Please join me in thanking Joseph for sharing his failures, his successes and the lessons he has learned from both on today’s show. He is a great friend and a terrific man to learn from, it was such a joy to have him here. And thanks to all of you for listening in, see you next time!

Tweetable: “Start where you are at.” Joseph Michael

EPISODE RESOURCES

• Learn Scrivener Fast
• Joseph Michael’s web site
• Joseph Michael on Twitter
• Clarity Course
• Submit feedback on the show for a chance to win an Amazon gift card!
• Subscribe to the show on iTunes
• Subscribe to the show on Stitcher
• Email me with any questions, comments or guest suggestions at Grant@GrantBaldwin.com