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Plan To Succeed With Information Product Creation: Why You Need To Split Your Process Up

One of the keys to succeeding in information product creation is to break the process up into discrete steps. This frequently isn’t an instinctive reaction for the typical information marketer. Especially on the internet where small sized learning products are the norm.

However, it is extremely important to your ultimate success. In fact, I would go so far as to say that if you don’t do this you probably won’t succeed… even when you are starting out let alone as you move forward.

Your product creation system should do this for you if only to help you to understand the overall task.

But why?

In this article, I’m going to ignore chunking and focus on the practical aspects. That’s not to say that chunking isn’t important. It is. It’s important to understanding and to learning the process. But while you can use the same chunks as you move forward, long term your focus needs to be on the operation of the system not the understanding of it. Unless of course you are constantly training new people!

So why is chunking important to long term use of the product creation process? (Yes, I know systems design uses a different term for this process but I’m not teaching you systems design. So I’m going to use the word learning content designers use.)

The first reason that having individual discrete tasks is important is one of schedule estimation. Frequently it is very difficult to estimate how long the total task of creating a product will take. After all, the size and type of the products matters as does the number of products in your product funnel. And those are just the most obvious elements. However, estimating a discrete task is often much easier. The total can then be estimated as the total of the discrete tasks.

Secondly, scheduling a large task can be problematic. However, by segmenting the task into a number of discrete tasks, you gain a much greater flexibility in scheduling. Not only that but as your business begins to add people you are able to schedule multiple people to the product creation.

Finally, segmenting a large task into smaller discrete tasks allows you to have much better control over the product creation. This affects two different areas — status and quality.

By segmenting your process into discrete tasks you are able to schedule and record the progress at much more detailed level. As a result you are more in control of the status of the product creation. You know what everyone is doing. When they should complete it. And how much it should cost. You also know exactly what has been done.

You also improve your overall quality. Instead of waiting until everything is done you can check quality as you go. This allows you to immediate react to low quality products without absorbing their costs. This means that you have less rework and your rework costs less. And if the product is not going to meet its quality requirement you will know about it in time to stop the development, change the requirement or fix the product.

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How to Invest and Why You Need a Plan

What makes rich people rich? Looking at the spending pattern of various income groups in the U.S. makes it clear: Savings. The real difference between the rich and the poor is that the rich spend a larger share of their income on savings (pensions and insurance) and education.

Source: WSJ, Labour Department,

When building wealth, preserving wealth, and passing it to the next generation is the formula for financial success it is surprising that less than 20% of Americans do have a written plan when it comes to investing and even retirement [1].

The paradox in human behavior is that we are perfectly rational and capable of planning for a major event in our lives, but this is usually forgotten when it comes to investing. In fact, you will find that only a third of investors have a written plan guiding their investment strategy and retirement plans.

Why is a plan needed?
The investment world is a harsh jungle, a world of murky waters where the smartest and the most organized survive and become successful while the rest are gobbled up. A written plan short circuits our normal response to something as emotional as money. It prevents us from resorting to our gut feelings and emotions. Instead of following the herd mentality that may prompt you to make unwise investment decisions, a plan will force you to stick to a rational strategy that is underpinned by fundamental investment principles. Some of the difficult emotions that you will have to overcome while investing include:
1) The fear of failure
2) The tendency to continue with a certain approach just because you started it
3) Personal matters such as relationship issues at home

It is also important to point out the main reasons why investors fall prey to the market and lose their precious funds:
1) Omitted facts and figures mislead investors into investing in a structurally unsound company or financial instrument
2) Overconfidence makes some investors think that they are invincible and that they can always beat the market.
3) Everyone wants to be seen as a champion, the successful general capable of leading an army to victory. This can make you make investment decisions that are not based on rational thinking but rather the desire to impress your friends, co-workers or family members

By having an investment plan written down and actually following what it says, you will have dramatically increased your chances of winning and increasing the size of your nest egg or investment portfolio. The following are simple steps in creating a plan and avoiding the herd mentality and instinctual impulses that turn us into fools when investing:

1. Set up specific and realistic goals
For example, instead of saying you want to have enough money to retire comfortably, think about how much money you’ll need. Your specific goal may be to save $500,000 by the time you’re 65.

2. Calculate how much you need to save each month
If you need to save $500,000 by the time you’re 65, how much will you need to save each month? Decide if that’s a realistic amount for you to set aside each month. If not, you may need to adjust your goals.

3. Choose your investment strategy
If you’re saving for long-term goals, you might choose more aggressive, higher-risk investments. If your goals are short term, you might choose lower-risk, conservative investments. Or you might want to take a more balanced approach.

4. Develop an investment policy statement
Create an investment policy statement to guide your investment decisions. If you have an adviser, your investment policy statement will outline the rules you want your adviser to follow for your portfolio. Your investment policy statement should:

Specify your investment goals and objectives,

Describe the strategies that will help you meet your objectives,

Describe your return expectations and time horizon,

Include detailed information about how much risk you’re willing to take,

Include guidelines on the types of investments that make up your portfolio, and how accessible your money needs to be, and

Specify how your portfolio will be monitored, and when or why it should be rebalanced.

A smart investor with a written down plan and strategy has already won half the battle without making a single financial decision. By implementing the plan and adhering to laid down rules of operation, the smart investor will avoid the pitfalls caused by human emotion and behavior and end up winning big.

Home Based Business – The 3 Wrong Partnerships Which Cause People To Fail In Their Home Business.

In this home business industry, there is as high as 95% of people fail in it. There are many reasons to account for their failures, but here, I want to highlight the 3 wrong partnerships which cause people to fail in their home based business.

1. Wrong Company To Partner With.

Many home based business partner with a company and promote their products and services and earned an income throughout the sales of products and services. However, many people do not know how to evaluate a good company to partner with, and hence partner with a wrong company, which is doomed for failure.

They did not choose a company with proven track record of at least 5 years. Yes, there are companies who have just started, and are doing very well in the first year, but they have a very high risk of failure as 80% of start-up companies fail in the first 5 years!

They also did not choose a company with a consumable product that is highly demanded by the market. A consumable product will allow you to receive repeat purchases after the initial sale, and guarantee you income as long as there are customers buying them. If your product is not consumable and highly demanded, you would have a hard time finding customers, and you are unemployed until your next sale!

2. Wrong Team To Partner With

A team is really important to ensure success in the home based business. We all know that you can get more things done in a team. A good creates team synergy and helps each other to succeed. However, many people do not work in a team, or partner with a wrong team of people.

They make a mistake of partnering with a team who doesn’t share a common interest or goal in their business. An example would be that a team doesn’t encourage their members to use the internet to market their business. However, we all know that the internet is a very useful tool to build the home business! But if your team doesn’t support your internet activities, you will find yourself struggling and hating your team for not supporting you.

Choose a team which shares the same vision as you and supports what you do in your business. If you are in conflict with your team, it is then time to build your own team, or partner with a team which matches your values.

3. Wrong Mentor To Partner With

Mentors are really important for any success to be created, be it in the home based business industry or other industries. However, people chose to work with the wrong mentors! Just like a team, you got to work with mentors who matches your value and commits to your success!

You would also want to partner with mentors who walk their talk. You want to partner with mentors who have done what they want to ask you to do, and not just know how to instruct people. A mentor which upholds high integrity is important too, and strong foundation of trust will guarantee success in the long run.

With the 3 wrong partnerships revealed here which are made by most home entrepreneurs, you now know what are the 3 right partnerships to create too. 

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