Moving Forward with Your New Product Line
Lesson 22 from: Product Line Strategy: Expand Your OfferingsMegan Auman
Moving Forward with Your New Product Line
Lesson 22 from: Product Line Strategy: Expand Your OfferingsMegan Auman
Lesson Info
22. Moving Forward with Your New Product Line
Lessons
Why You Need to Create New Products on a Regular Basis
08:26 2What Holds You Back from Creating New Products?
09:38 3The 4 Step Product Expansion System
05:30 4Step 1: Find Your Next Direction
01:39 5Exercise: What's Working with Your Offerings
03:13 6What’s Working: Student Example
05:59 7Exercise: Identify the Gaps in Your Product Offering
09:02 8Identify the Gaps: Student Example
15:09Exercise: Look to Your Passions to Inspire Your New Product Offering
05:07 10Step 2: Declare Your Intention for Your New Product Line
07:04 11Declare Your Intention: Student Example
10:44 12Step 3: Develop Distinctive Design Ideas
01:35 13Exercise: Gather Outside Inspiration
07:54 14Exercise: Carry Over the Common Threads from Previous Designs
09:10 15Carry Over the Common Threads: Student Example
08:05 16Exercise: Design Your New Product Ideas Without Judgement
05:01 17Step 4: Evaluate Your Ideas for Market Success
02:25 18Exercise: Identify the Unknowns in Creating New Products
04:50 19Exercise: Consider Production Costs
03:00 20Consider Production Coasts: Student Example
07:40 21Exercise: Look for Market Support
05:05 22Moving Forward with Your New Product Line
07:49Lesson Info
Moving Forward with Your New Product Line
That kind of moves us into a question that's going to come up in this last segment which is moving forward on how do you know if you need to get rid of something and I think this is a case we're dropping out that confusing peace we're getting rid of the goldfield and just having the gold is going to be the way to go that brings your line where you wanted to go the other thing and we'll get here we'll talk more about this in a minute but the other thing is when you're getting rid of something that also becomes a potential for an event and driving more sales hey guys I'm getting rid of the goldfield hearings this is your last chance if you want them last chance is a really powerful driver of sales so you could actually turn getting rid of them into an event and then up level your brand at the same time yeah so once you feel confident that there is a potential market now it's time for your test market event now we are not talking about the test market event in this class because I went th...
rough it in very great detail in my boot camp make a living selling what you make what you can find right here on creative live this class was developed to sort of fill in the gaps of what you do to get to the test market event but really very simply it's building anticipation launching your collection getting people excited driving them to your email list or getting your retailers excited and then on that date that you said you will launch saying hey guys it's here that's really the basic strategy in a nutshell but then the other question comes that comes up is you move forward is how do you know when it's time to pull a product or a collection for market and with tiffany we talked about a really good example I think the time one of the times to pull a collection from market or product is when it creates confusion with your audience particularly in the direction that you want to go and the new pieces that you want so if your audience is going what's goldfield versus gold and you want to do more in gold but they said it's way more fun to work with them gold filled get rid of the gold filled but I also think it's okay to hold onto some project not in your case I think it makes sense because there's confusion but I also think there is opportunity keep collections along around maybe a little longer than you thought because sometimes new products make older products sell better. So this over here are kind of my two longstanding bestselling collections my signature and my shift and these are made I'm kind of with all with a slightly center gauge wire oh the necklace that's it one of them was a necklace that sarah's wearing s so all, they have a certain gauge wire and they've been around a long time and they've been selling, but sales actually gotten a little stagnant. And then I introduced a new collection, my bold collection, which is made with a thicker gauge of wire, and at the very first trade show where I introduced the bold collection, something funny happened. I started selling a ton of this collection and the reason wass that this collection, which had always felt a little bit bold and a little bit chunky to people compared to this collection, suddenly felt very delicate, delicate is relative and my brand that we really but very delicate and wearable. So sometimes what if collection that's not selling well needs is another collection that shifts your buyer's perspective on the previous one so I would never get rid of an underperforming collection before a new product launch. I would launch the new product and give it time to see if it boosts sales of an underperforming collection tiffany's case is different because we're talking about eliminating market confusion, but in this case, I usually keep things around for about an extra six months after they feel like they're not selling, so gives me time to do one or two new product launches. And if at that point so at this point is I'm saying six months I would say I keep collections around for almost a year before I pull any of them I give them time in the marketplace now in that year I'm launching new things and I'm launching new pieces and there's no finite time for getting rid of a collection these pieces have been in my line some of them have been my line for almost eight years some of the women in my line for six years and in that time I've developed things and killed them so actually part of the bold collection where these bronze pieces my supplier change their bronze formulation and I just hate it so they're gone they're actually selling well but I didn't like that new color and I wasn't comfortable putting the product out so I pulled it so there's no hard and fast rule for getting rid of old collections it's kind of an intuitive process but when you get stuck when sales stagnate when things aren't selling that's what I want you to go back to the beginning of the product expansion system and create a new one bring that energy back into your business so instead of killing things we want to create new things that's what creates the energy so go back in here start from the top again find your next direction declare your design intention develop those distinctive design ideas and evaluate your ideas for success and this is what brings that energy back into your business and this is what I love about this system is that you could do it over and over and over and year after year to push your brand and your business forward so I want to end by having you share we're sorry their city audience and then remember you guys you can jump in use our create to make hashtag what is something that you can do today so what is a step that you can take today whether it's declaring your design intention or doing a little market research or whatever it is? What can you do today to help bring your new collection to market desert just by setting a deadline? I already know the collection I need to do and I've always just been fermenting so just by putting a date on it it will be done perfect sarah I'm in the process of bringing a new collection yeah, I'm having product photos tomorrow, right? You've got you've got and you know, I think that especially if you have to hire a photographer hire your photographer is a great way to force your deadline because you're like, oh crap buy that book I better get those pieces done right karen deciding on the number of pieces in the line not allowed remember we're not setting numbers for setting deadlines continuing with this kitchen perfect, friendly, uh, tried tio well, pass just too many things. I think they're going back to you, tiffany. I think adjusting my website to go into the solid gold and taking out the gold perfect are that pulling out my materials and looking at the board and sketching food. Borden sketching. I took a long pause on one product that I was working on, so continuing it, and then using this product to feed into new ideas are create the whole line. I'm going to move forward with some formulations that already started fragrances. Nice, perfect.
Class Materials
Bonus Materials with Purchase
Ratings and Reviews
I Must Draw
Megan is a brilliant instructor and each of her classes is packed with information to take your business forward. This class has practical steps to help you identify gaps in your product line. Through her own experience of developing product lines she helps you to understand how to stay consistent and cohesive. This is a great class, highly recommend.
Francesca Balagtas
This class was absolutely fantastic. Even though I've had my etsy shop for a while, it has always been something on the side for me while I was attending school full-time. Now that I have the time to really focus and commit to my business I can finally take the steps I need to build up my business and make some real revenue. Because of this class I now know those exact steps to push my shop with full speed ahead. Megan is fully engaging as well, which made the class easy and fun to follow along. Great class, Megan!
Danielle Celeste
Megan Auman is such an amazing artist, craftsman, strategist, and communicator. Everyone trying to make a living selling what they make needs to see this. I think this was my favorite class in the series. Getting such incredibly thoughtful, thought-provoking and concise information from an academically-trained fine artist and teacher was UH-MAZE MAZE!