Step 2: Declare Your Intention for Your New Product Line
Lesson 10 from: Product Line Strategy: Expand Your OfferingsMegan Auman
Step 2: Declare Your Intention for Your New Product Line
Lesson 10 from: Product Line Strategy: Expand Your OfferingsMegan Auman
Lesson Info
10. Step 2: Declare Your Intention for 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
Step 2: Declare Your Intention for Your New Product Line
So let's dive in right into step two of our system, which is declare your intention for your new product line so we are working on this product expansion system and this is that repeatable system that you can use again and again to design really cohesive and distinctive collections and in step one we worked on finding your next direction, so we identified three areas where you could mind for new products what's working in your business where you find gaps and of course what you're most excited about. And now it's timeto actually I know that focus is a word that came up in our first lesson of what's really challenging for a lot of you guys in launching new collections, so now we're going to declare your design, intention and really for focus on what it is you're going to do for your next collection, sir. First exercise, we're going to look for the overlaps and intersections from step one. So remember our step one we identified what's working the gaps and what you're most excited about e...
xploring next, and I want to show you how this worked for me in some of my previous collections. So what I did this exercise about sixty eight months ago, you know I looked at was working and for me it's really about the statement necklaces that's what I'm known for that's what works and when I looked at gaps, I actually identified two and you'll see one of the gaps identified eight hundred this one was rings I really did not have any rings and my offering, and I wasn't selling them because I didn't have any. I also see a gap for myself in that kind of over five hundred dollars price point. I see an opportunity there to expand, and then for me, the thing that I was most excited about exploring next was I had gone to india and I had bought a whole bunch of stones that I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do with, but I knew I wanted to do something with them and that's what I was most excited about. So when I looked at those overlaps that for me turn into my contra collection, which is what I'm wearing, what you see on my site, what I launched most recently because I was looking at statement necklaces kind of looking at some rings as an option and pulling those all together with the stones. Now I realize that that's a pretty obvious example, so I want to show you a different one from a little bit further back in my line, so a few years ago I was really excited about painting I jokingly refer to it is the year I wanted to be a painter uh there's a lot of reasons why, but I decided I was gonna start painting again and so I was really excited about that what was working in my product line was still my statement necklaces, but I had started thinking about some gaps and so I have looked at, you know, from statement necklaces and jewelry accessories are a really nice natural next product extension, right? You're buying jewelry probably accessorize you might buy scarves made by some other things, but the other gap that I had sort of noticed in talking to some friends is that I was like, oh, I'm painting but it's harder to sell expensive paintings and I had a friend who had started painting at the same time actually jamie daryn jer from design milk jamie and I were both kind of painting at the same time when we were talking about what to d'oh it was like, oh, well, it's because you need print and I was like, ok, I see that that's what if I'm going to paint that's a gap, right? But truthfully not excited about that one at all and it didn't really make sense what was happening up here? So for me the really obvious overlap was that I launched a line of scarves because it felt that kind of big statement accessory that spoke to my brand but it pulled in when I was most excited about so it's a very different example of how finding the overlap can drive your next collection and since it's a slightly less obvious one then I like necklaces I need rings I like stones I wanted to show you that one too, but then once you found those gaps, you actually want to state the goal of your next collection this is what's going to keep you from losing focus because now you're going to say I am going to do something and then in a minute we're gonna put a date on it I'm going to launch x by why so for me my intention for the contra collection was very clear I am going to create a collection of necklaces and rings using the stones I brought back from india that was my intention was going to be very clear about that now what that looks like? I didn't know yet when I said this intention and that's okay, but I knew that was the goal that I wanted to achieve. In fact, when I said this intention, I also didn't know that I was gonna call it the contra collection I had no idea and that's ok too I just set the intention the new one that I'm working on now is that I'm going to expand the contra collection with a line of multiple stone statement necklaces that retail for between five hundred and three thousand so this was how by going back to identifying my gaps, I set my next design intention for the next generation of what I'm doing, so we're going to set your intention on the way, give yourself a deadline, and I prefer time bound deadlines rather than per piece goals because remember, one of the things we're doing is we're trying to get over decision paralysis and we're trying to take action, and what I find is if I tell you, you need to have four pieces or you need to have ten pieces or you'd have twenty pieces, then you start to delay oh, I don't quite have enough yet or maybe I need to edit this instead, I want you to say, wherever this collection of that by ex state, this is what I'm going to launch it. So when I launched the contra collection, I said, I'm going to sign this new collection of statement necklaces and necklaces and rings using the stones I brought back from india, and I am going to launch it on june second and so really funny thing happened when I said that I was like, I'm going to do this here is my launch date, I put it in my calendar and it was the beginning of may and then earth yeah, then it was the end of it, like the middle of may was like I said I was gonna launch this collection june second, and about two weeks before june second, I went in my studio and I started cranking and because I didn't have a purpose, goal was like, whatever I get done by june second goes up. So I believe my initial launch was something small. He goes on, like fourteen pieces, and they're all one of a kind pieces. But because I had given myself that deadline and I stuck to it, I got something launch and that's, really what I want for you guys in declaring your intention is you're going to say, here is what I'm going to dio, and here is what I'm going to do it by. And as I mentioned, step two is the shortest step, but it's, the most important, because it keeps you focused.
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!