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.

Home based business ideas require that you choose the right one among thousands that you may have in order for you to achieve internet success. Apart from choosing the right idea, your personal improvement will also contribute heavily towards your success with any of your home based business ideas.Most of the emerging entrepreneurs do not understand the significance of personal improvement which forms the basic essence of any successful businessperson.Some of the smart entrepreneurs learn very quickly the importance of their personal development for the success of their business. However, many do not which lessens their chance of survival in the business. This is the basic reason for such high failure rates of home based businesses.It is always a wise plan to improve you first before taking on any particular task. You might need to emotionally strengthen yourself along with updating your knowledge, skills and physical health in order to achieve any level of success in your business.Here, is a basic view of the relationship between home based business ideas and personal development.Sources of personal development:You will find numerous resources on Google and Yahoo that will help you to obtain nearly any personal development requirements that you may have. There are also many text books and magazine articles that you can get from your local library or book store to help you in this endeavor as well. You will be wise to study those resources which are authored by people with real life experiences in the subject matter rather than a ghost writer who has no real life experience with the subject matter.DVD’s and CD’s are other excellent resources which can help you with your personal development. The Internet is also a giant resource. Internet online courses and live webinars are very helpful for home based businesses and generally the training is free.Physical and spiritual personal development:o It is also important to keep yourself physically fit, healthy with good personal hygiene. You should have an exercise at least three times per week depending upon your age and health condition. A good dietary program is also important.
o You should also consult your Doctor and/or your Health Consultant to find out if there is any medication that you should be taking to manage any potential stress that you may be experiencing now or that you perceive could affect you in managing your business in the future.Personal development also includes attending seminars and other training events to give you more exposure to new knowledge, techniques, and technical skills needed to manage your business. This type of training not only helps to expand your personal qualities but it also gives you exposure to other people who may later become your mentors.Ratio of personal development training:Ideally people should allot or dedicate at least 20% of their time from their daily routine towards personality development. For instance, if people spend five hours for their home business they should allot at least one hour for personal development. That ideal rate should be 5:1. Basically opening up your mind for new learning towards improving your personality will reflect on your business results.General points to consider for personal development training:o Focus on your most important needs first. Don’t shotgun a wide variety of subjects at the same time. Lock in on your most important needs first and follow up with others later.
o Start slow and expand gradually according to your needs and necessities.
o Focus on the specific needs of your home based business. Not all businesses need the same knowledge and skill sets. Find out what your needs are and stick to that subject matter.
o Don’t try to learn it all right now. Too much of information will bring chaos, frustration, lack of self confidence and most likely depression causing both your health and your business to suffer accordingly.
o Some home businesses even offer their distributors free personal development training. If so, then this is an excellent way for you to obtain some of the training that you may not already possess.As a closing note, remember that your personal development is critical to your success in developing your home based business ideas.

Marketing your home based business is vital to its success. So one of the first things you should do when starting your home based business is to develop a marketing plan.For your home based business marketing plan, you need to know what your business is really about and what separates you from the other guys in the same type of business. When you have an idea about this, you want to develop an unique selling proposition statement (USP). This is different from an advertising tagline, although you may end up using it as one. A USP, however, is usually a one-sentence statement that sums up who you are and what the purpose and mission of your home based business are.After you develop your home based business USP, you want to think seriously about your target market. Who are they? Where do they live? How much education do they have? What are their buying habits? What’s their gender? Asking questions like these help you know your customers inside and out, which will be of tremendous benefit in allowing you to talk to them in their own language and in understanding the best way to get the message about your home based business across to them.Once you know these things, it’s time to think about advertising. You will, of course, want to have business cards, letterhead and envelopes for your home based business. You may want to hire a graphic designer to develop a special logo just for your home based business and have it printed on all your business and marketing materials, from envelopes to television commercials, if you decide to run some to advertise your home based business. A logo is an excellent way to brand your business so that the minute people see it, they automatically think of you. If you don’t think this is true, consider Nike. Without the swoosh, Nike just wouldn’t be Nike.You will definitely want to have a website for your home based business, whether you’re doing business online or off. Even if you’re not marketing your product or service to the online community, a website gives your home based business more substance and credibility. Web developers and writers can have your website up and running in a day, but it’s better to take some time and plan the look and feel you want your website to have before going live with it.Some other ways to market your home based business offline that are quite inexpensive are flyers, circulars and posters. You can make these types of marketing materials on your own computer, then post them around town and leave them in places where there are likely to be people who want your product and/or service. Marketing materials like these are much more effective than you might think and are a great way to reach an untapped market for your home based business. However, if you’re leaving flyers in a business or office be sure to get permission first. You don’t want them to just get chunked in the trash!Other home based business marketing materials that tend to be a bit more costly are brochures, radio commercials, billboards and television commercials. But they might not be as expensive as you think, especially if you’re focused on a particular small area. For brochures and billboards, you will want to hire a good graphic artist to create them, and you’ll also need to buy media placement for the billboards. For commercials for your home based business, both radio and television, you’ll need a copywriter to write a script unless you plan on writing it yourself. You’ll also need a producer to record or shoot your commercial. You’ll also have to buy the media placement for it. Many small local advertising agencies in your area can do all of this for you at a moderate charge. Some agencies that are just starting out themselves may be willing to give you a discount to help advertise their own service. Just make sure their agency has a reputation for quality–like the one you’re developing for your own home based business!Charles Fuchs

http://www.charlesfuchs.com/

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