Product Market Fit: Will Your Idea Work?

Product Market Fit: Will Your Idea Work?

Garth Beyer

In college I had to create a website with my class that provided a solution to a common community problem. We sent a survey out to community members with one of the questions asking if you (the surveyor) would be disappointed if the product we’ve described didn’t exist. Our response rate was stellar: the majority responded they would be “very disappointed.”

A friend in another class did a similar questionnaire for their mobile app they wanted to create. Very, very few responded they would be disappointed if the app didn’t exist.

What I didn’t realize until recently was that we were growth hacking in terms of establishing product market fit.

There’s a lot of talk about the ambiguous definition of product market fit. I simplify it to a product has met product market fit if the majority of the target market surveyed responds they would be disappointed if the product didn’t exist.

There’s a lot of different ways you can define product market fit. But the point is to measure that it will before you go creating it.

The friend who went ahead and created a full-on pitch for their mobile app–it should go without saying it was a flop. They didn’t have product market fit.

Build it and they will come

 

Stay Positive & Build It When You Know They Will Come

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Are You Asking Too Much?

Are You Asking Too Much?

Garth Beyer

Create Something Worth Sharing

 

Let’s face it that our success is heavily based on others’ act of sharing what we’ve created.

My guideline is if they feel like they’re doing you a favor by sharing you’re product, your blog post, your How-To video, then what you’ve created is not remarkable enough.

To get people to share, you must create something noteworthy. They have to feel that by sharing they are actually giving a gift, a reward to those in their own tribe.

People have limited time to engage and a limited list of favors they can take on. But everyone has enough time to share something remarkable.

So. No. You’re not asking too much for someone to share a video, retweet, or invite their friends to join your mailing list.

But if people don’t respond to your request, then know that it’s not because you asked too much or asked the wrong way; it’s that you didn’t create something remarkable enough in the first place.

Then it’s either harsh truth or an opportunity to make better art.

 

Stay Positive & Create A Moment Worth Sharing, I Know You Can

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Best Time To Promote Your Remarkable Idea

Garth Beyer

Uber found SWSX and gave free rides to all attendees instead of spending the money on advertising in all the hometowns of everyone at the conference. They chose to reach a bounty of their target market instead of using a huge chunk of budget to advertise heavily in each city.

When everyone is under one roof, that’s your opportunity to make an impact.

When and where does your target audience get together?

 

Stay Positive & Why Aren’t You There?

How To Guarantee Your Product Will Be A Hit

How To Guarantee Your Product Will Be A Hit

Garth Beyer

Inventor At Work / Product Hit Guarantee

In the old days (I’m referring to just a few years ago) we would create a project or service and then try to sell it. We would develop a product and try to convince people they had the problem our product was the solution for.

Now we have to create a remarkable product or service that solves an existing problem.

The first step in any marketing or creation plan (after seeking out an existing problem, of course) is to not just write why our product is the remarkable solution, but show that it is.

In the past we could stay in our dark rooms, write a book, give it to a publisher, and then rely on the publisher to market the book and hope it hits the NYT bestseller list.

In the past we could dream up an awesome product at our desks, contact manufacturers in China, have them build it, send it to us and then hope people would buy it.

Now the publisher doesn’t do the marketing. Now few go knocking on doors.

We can’t stay in our quiet dark room anymore.

Now books gets sold before their written. Now we have a preorder list of 1,200 before we build the product.

The way to guarantee your product will be a hit once it reaches the market is to guarantee your product will be a hit before you build it. You do that by building a tribe of believers, of backers, of supporters.

Instead of putting a book out there and hoping people bite, you can blog about the book before it’s written, create a network centered around the message of your book, then you get a book proposal based on the feedback and impact you already have. You are able to show it will be a bestseller.

Kickstarter works because people have a tribe of supporters that will pay to have them build their inventions because one of their perks is that they will get weekly updates, exclusive promos, and special thank-yous. Not to mention, they simply believe in the maker, the artist, (you?). But those artists have worked hard for their trust, not just hard on the product.

We’re no longer in an age when we can rely on others to sell what we create. Sure, create for the sake of creating, because it’s fun, because there’s no better opportunity we have in life. But if you are looking to make an income off your creation,  doesn’t it make sense to guarantee your product will be a hit before you create it?

 

Stay Positive & We Have The Tools, Now Use’m

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Unlocking Potential #9: Q&A With Matt Haze

Unlocking Potential #9: Q&A With Matt Haze

Garth Beyer

Matt HazeThis particular Q&A is with non-other than Matt Haze, the man behind the @30RockTree Twitter account. He’s an entertainer and excessively active on Twitter and Facebook.

Matt has lived on both coasts while working on his career in entertainment and currently resides in NYC.

He’s a radio geek and late night show fanatic, but also a go-getter, mover, and shaker, which makes him perfect for a segment on my Unlocking Potential series.

Welcome the one-and-only, Matt Haze.

Q: Read your Twitter bio. Check. Looked around on your website. Check. Tell us about your real, authentic self in a few sentences, something the Internet hasn’t told us. Who is Matt Haze, really?

I’m just a guy observing things in the world and hoping to share what I see through comedy.  There’s so many thoughts that run through my head that if they don’t get out, I really think I will explode!

Q: What does a day in the life of Matt Haze look like?

There is never one exact day, really.  Which in a way is bad because real creativity comes from habits.  I’m a loyal Seth Godin fan and I know that persistent shipping of content every day is what gets you out there.  For years I’ve wanted to build a daily routine, but it’s tough.  Some days, I start really early to do a radio or TV thing.  Some days, I sleep in because I was hosting an event until the wee hours of the morning the night before.  Some days, I’m on the road to get to another gig.  But I honestly love it that way.

Q: What’s your muse, you art, your purpose? (Was it hard to discover this?)

To make people laugh like they’ve never seen or heard something before. I’ve always had an idea what it is I do, but it’s always been tough to put into words.  A few weeks ago, my buddy Sammy Simpson and I had a catch up coffee.  This is the exact topic we talked about.  He’s a really smart guy and he helped me to formulate that into words.

Q: What has been the toughest decision you had to make? How did you decide what to do?

There’s two that come to mind.  First, when I left my full time radio gig in Akron, Ohio in 2005.  Part of me knew I wasn’t going to stay there and it was time to do something different.  My last day was a mess because part of me was really thinking that this was a mistake.  Looking back, it was a good thing I left for many reasons.  It was the start of a crazy new journey and chapter.  Secondly, when I decided to go back east and leave Los Angeles.  Part of me felt like I failed at LA.  When, in reality, it wasn’t for me.  It was a good learning experience and I’m glad I did it.

Q: What is success to you?

This has been something I’ve been struggling with the last year.  For many, they look at what I’ve done and think “oh he’s successful!  He’s done stuff!”  But I grew up in the old school media world.  There’s still part of me that feels I need to be validated by some higher being (boss or company) to feel “successful.”  But as the landscape has changed in the last 10 years, I also know that’s total bullshit.  Success is doing projects that are meaningful for me.  If I’ve made someone happy or succeeded a client’s expectations, I’d call that a success.

Q: What are three essential habits for success?

Oh I am HORRIBLE for habits.  But here’s three things I do every day that I know help me grow.

  1. I consume content. I’m always looking at links, stories, videos, whatever people are talking about.  I may not watch the big TV shows people are talking about, but I know what they are.  You have to have an idea what is going on out there to be able to create content that relates.
  2. I interact on social.  If I didn’t interact with people, they wouldn’t share my content or help me get a gig.  Social is a two way street.  You have to treat it that way for it to fully work.
  3. I network.  It goes with number two, but I make an effort to reach out 2-3 times a year with my top influencers to remind them I’m out there and see how I can help them.  When I sold real estate for two minutes, I was taught that most people only have space in their brain for 1-2 names of agents.  You want to be one or two of those.  No matter what you do, I feel this is true.  Being top of mind is KEY.  And that takes effort, communication and talking to people to make happen.

Q: What was holding you back from being a remarkable entertainer?

MYSELF.  I am my own worst enemy.  My closest friends hear my private thoughts about how I feel about my work.  I’ll get a call about an amazing opportunity and I’ll instantly start to doubt myself.  “Oh someone must have made a mistake.”  I think we all suffer from this.

Q: If you got to go back ten years, but could only take with you one piece of knowledge that you know now, what would it be?

Trust your gut.  Just do it.

Q: What are a few life lessons you want readers to take away from this?

The biggest one is to not be afraid to take a chance.  There are people who will come out of the woodwork to help you achieve whatever it is you want if you’re authentic.  If what you’re doing is true to your purpose and soul, people will help you.  Keep going.

Q: Where can people find your art?

Shameless plug: matthaze.com

 

Stay Positive & Seriously, Trust Your Gut

 

Meditate On Doing The Work That Matters

Meditate On Doing The Work That Matters

Garth Beyer

Meditate On That

 

It’s probably time for a sexy website revamp, right?

And you ought to post to Twitter more often.

And don’t you think you need to publish more Instagram photos?

And your profile picture seems kind of old, doesn’t it?

With the new year comes the feeling of needing to update, to design a new book cover for your life, to work on that index, to focus on the prologue. In doing so, we miss out on the chance to write the book, to focus on moving forward, and to do the work that matters.

When it comes to tasks you think need to be completed, a simple reality check is to ask if it is for your inside success or out?

 

Stay Positive & Meditate On That

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Success Inside And Out

Success Inside And Out

Garth Beyer

It’s not about where you end up, it’s about what you learn and feel along the way.

Success Journey

We’re aware of what the outside of success looks like.

It’s shiny. Glamorous. Often inspiring and flashy.

The consequences, though, are that the stakes get raised and judgement sets in, the pressure is on, all eyes are on you to keep creating remarkable work, to continue a streak of successes.

But while outside success guarantees inside success, inside success doesn’t guarantee outside success.

A failed product launch may be an inside success: you now know what it takes to launch, what the market looks for, how to communicate with potential investors.

Launching a business may be an inside success (it’s been a dream of yours and you accomplished it… go you), but there is no outside success because the business closed after a month (sorry, keep at it).

The sweetest advice I can give when it comes to outside and inside success is strive for inside success… it’s the best way to ignore the pressures that come from outside success.

 

Stay Positive & Success Is A Selfish Process, Rightfully So

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