If you tried to think of people involved in product creation, who would come to mind? You may think of Edison, Franklin, or maybe Henry Ford. Would you ever think of yourself as someone who can create a quality product? Product creation is actually relatively easy and product launching is not that tough either! If you follow a few easy to understand steps, you could be starting the product creation and product launching process sooner than you think.

The first step in creating your information product is to know and understand your market. This can be very time-consuming, especially if you are unsure of what to do or where to look to know your market. Studying your niche market and understanding the buzz words and buying patterns can ease the process dramatically. Personally, I would recommend networking with someone who has had success in the niche market you are considering and learn from their results. If they are into product creation and not very business savvy expect some hesitation. If they only sell products and have nothing to do with product launching or product creation you may your first affiliate (sales person)! Something else you can use to find hot trends is with the Google Trends tool.

The second step is the product creation process. Take your niche market and brainstorm ideas and topics relating to it. There are a lot of product launching contests going on recently relating to a newly created internet marketing tool. There are so many aspects to the mentioned niche that literally, and unfortunately, anything can be considered an Internet Marketing tool. The reason that anyone can basically create an Internet Marketing tool is because of something called Private Label Rights products.

What I use private label rights products for, and highly recommend them in this specific manner, is to cure writer’s block especially when it is lingering. Many people base their entire product creation and product launching on a private label rights product. This is where you can start to shine and build a strong brand for yourself. If you set goals for yourself, short-term goals to be exact, you can see your product creation come into being much faster and there is a good chance with less revision needed. If you keep hitting time restraint road blocks; however there is nothing wrong with a slow and steady approach, you can consider outsourcing portions of your project. Outsourcing can be an extremely huge benefit or just as great of a disaster.

You can find someone to outsource work to at a freelance site such as Guru.com or eLance.com. When reviewing proposals it is almost mandatory you perform a background check on them as you are in essence hiring them. Doing a background check on freelancers is as easy as asking for samples of their work and reviewing feedback on the freelance site from previous customers. Depending on the size and requirements of your project this can add up to a decent sized investment, so caution is very important. One tip I always recommend to people looking to hire an individual is to ask them what they can provide you that no one else can. This simple question gives them a chance to “toot their own horn” and acknowledge where they feel most competent as far as their skill set.

The final portion of the product creation and product launching formula is the launch. This can literally make or break the effort, time, and maybe (if you invested) money you put in to your project. There are numerous aspects to product launching and although their relevance is debated in terms to their effect, experts agree all must be followed. The person in your field who you asked for product advice from can help you substantially if you have kept in touch. If not, the first thing you need to do is to create a visually appealing website with flawless design work.

I also mentioned outsourcing before, this is one aspect of product launching I have little strength in and I always outsource this portion. The website does not have to be large however the content (ad copy in Internet Marketing) must be stellar and as perfect as possible. This is where advertising knowledge or experience is beneficial. When the site is set up you now put a lead capture form on your website.

I put two lead capture pages on all products I create on the internet and is one of the best methods of getting a solid start when you are in the product launching stage. When you gain information from a prospect or someone looking to get paid for referring sales you are able to provide them updates or specials. Many people abuse their prospect or affiliate lists by in turn emailing them with a new product daily and I find the recommendations to be totally unrelated to their original need, problem, or interest.

Another stage in the product launching stage is creating a free report or demo version of your product to entice the product to sign up to your email list. Using proper follow up with this can help generate numerous sales for you. One thing you need to ensure is that your free product completely relates to your main product that you are looking to sell.

You are now ready to advertise your product launching to customers as well as the opportunity to sell for affiliates. This is the single aspect that many product creations and launches fail on. It is actually not entirely difficult. One thing you can do is write articles (and a good amount of them) on topics relating to your product. I am a huge advocate of giving a solution in forums. When you join a forum you are normally offered the opportunity to create a signature. In your signature, you should enter the link to your opt-in or lead capture page. When you respond to posts, you are advertising your opportunity.

It is not impossible to create a product and it does not have to take a long time. You need to setup a plan and stick to it. If you get stuck, look at similar and successful products to your own and try and see how they did it. When you sit down and brainstorm you will be surprised with what you can imagine.

There are many mistakes that people make when starting a home based business. With just a few changes to these actions and adding a bit more knowledge and steps that same person can have a very successful home based business. The internet makes having a home business even easier than ever before.You need to set goals for your home based business when you start and every year after that. Some goals can be small and quickly achievable while others may take the whole year to complete. The goals must state what action you need to perform to achieve the goal and the deadline you give yourself to achieve the goal by whether it is a week, month, or year later.Schedule on your calendar the hours you are going to spend on your home based business each day. To succeed you must take the business seriously and not treat it like a hobby. Planning the time you will spend and the goals you will work on each day is important in order to stay on track for success. If you do not complete a days work just reschedule it into the following weeks work. Do not give up just because you hit some rough spots in time management or hitting your goals. Just keep on taking positive actions.When getting stated in a home based business it is important to focus on only one product theme or niche when you are learning the ropes. If you try multiple topics or niches then it will be hard to grasp the basics or get as much success from each audience as you could if you just worked on one niche in the beginning. Pick a product, topic niche that you think people want to actually buy products related to it. If they only like to talk about it but do not spend money on it then the theme may not be the best one to get started with.It is important to get some guidance from successful people in the home based business profession. Be careful to pick the right course or teacher. There are a lot of scammers out there who claim to be able to direct you to success but there information may be outdated or not even accurate at all. You need to find the best coach or mentor that you can that can help you reach all your goals. Research the best in the business you are starting such as affiliate marketing online. Then follow their direction as you move forward in your home based business.Stay flexible as you grow in your home based business. Just because one action worked five years before does not mean it will today. You need to be able to try new avenues to success as they become available through technology or through your knowledge as you follow your course of action.

When looking for a Home Based Business there are 5 very important questions you must ask.They are:Question #1: What is the product or service being sold?If you cannot clearly identify a specific product or service being offered for sale through the Home Based Business, it may be a Pyramid Scheme or a similar type of Scam.Here’s the reasoning behind it:If there’s no product or service being offered to the public for sale, how can the company promoting the Home Based Business generate a profit? Where’s the money coming from to pay you a commission or a bonus?If they’re not making a profit from sale to the end consumer then they’ve got to generate that income from you and other members like you just recruiting other people who are usually asked to pay some outrageous Application/ Registration Fee, even if they call it by a fancy name.This is nothing more than a Pyramid Scheme and NOT a legitimate Home-Based Business. A popular example is Gifting Programs, there are no Goods or Services being sold, it’s just people exchanging money with other people. Sooner or later somebody is bound to get hurt!Question #2: How stable is the company?Why is this important?Well suppose you found what seemed like a really great company and started building a Home-Based Business with them only to find out 2 to 3 years later that the FTC swooped down on them for illegal practices and shut them down for good?This actually happened with one company I was working with many years ago.People became millionaires with this company in a matter of months. It was the fastest money I’d ever made in Network Marketing up to that time, but within months of joining the company it all came crashing down because of problems with the structure of the company and certain practices that displeased the FTC.I learnt my lesson.In checking out the company you’ll want to find out how long they’ve been in business and where their headquarters is located. You’ll want to ask about any other Companies they’re affiliated with, like their Parent Company, Sister Companies or Subsidiaries if there are any.There’s an old adage that goes; “Show me your friends and I’ll show you who you are.”That applies here.You can tell something about a company by the company it keeps (pun intended).In looking at how long a Company’s been in business be careful not to throw away the good with the bad, for instance, a particular program might be brand new but the Parent Company backing that program might have been in business for many years, giving it the stability you’re looking for. Look deep and don’t be afraid to check behind the curtains.Question #3: What is the quality of the company’s leadership?Dr John C. Maxwell, international Speaker, Motivator and Best-selling Author says, “Everything rises or falls on leadership.”It has been my experience that a Company usually takes on the characteristics of its leader(s) so, if you want to know what kind of business you’re about to join, look at the leadership.Practically speaking, you’ll also want to check out the business acumen of the person or people in charge because they’re the ones making the decisions that’ll impact the future of the Company – Your Company.Question #4: How good is the compensation plan?I think The O’Jays said it best; Money, money, money, money… monney!!!You’re going in business to make money not to look good in a business suit.And if you have a real Home-Based Business then you won’t be wearing a business suit in the first place, Right?There are so many different types of Compensation Plans; from the sublime to the laughable. There are 2-Ups, 1-Ups, Binaries, Unilevels, 5×7 Expanding Matrices. There are Spillovers, Powerlines, Breakaways and on, and on, and on.Here’s what to focus on:How much is being paid out in commissions?Too little and it’s not worth your time, too much and the company might not retain enough profit to sustain its continued growth and expansion.The experts say about 65% being paid out in commissions is the acceptable norm.Understand the difference between Bonuses and Commissions.Commissions usually form part of your ongoing residual income. Bonuses are usually temporary financial increases, paid on a specific action, performance or fulfilled quota and as such; do not form part of your regular ongoing income. Focus on good commissions as opposed to bonuses!Look for passive, residual income.This is the kind of income wise people seek after. It’s the type of income you keep getting long after you’ve stop working. An author writes a book once and keeps getting royalties from sales years after she stops writing.The Harry Potter Series made J. K. Rowling a billionaire and now here comes Stephanie Meyer and the Twilight Series – Go sisters, go!With a Home based Business the same thing is possible.You can do the work once and keep getting paid forever once you’ve selected a stable Company with good Leadership and the right Compensation Plan with an easily Duplicatable System.Question #5: Is it easily duplicatable?Even if you’ve got everything else going for you that’s mentioned above, if the system CANNOT be easily duplicated it’s not going to work.Your attempt at building a successful Home-Based Business will fail and here’s the reason why:J. Paul Getty said, “I would rather earn 1% of the efforts of 100 people than earn 100% of my own efforts.”This is the axiom upon which Network Marketing, MLM’s and Affiliate Programs are built. Zig Ziglar said it this way, “If you help enough people get what they want, you will get what you want.”Either way you look at it, it’s going to take a team. Teamwork makes the dream work. So, if the system you’re looking at cannot be easily duplicated by the average person who wants to start a Home-based Business how are you going to ever build a successful team?There are over 475,000 people worldwide starting a Home-Based Business every week, 175,000 here in the USA alone. Most of them don’t know how to build a Home Based Business so if your system isn’t user friendly then, most likely, they’ll find another one that is.Keep these tips in mind:We live in the age of Video; this is the YouTube Generation so, if your program makes use of video to help sell the product or explain the benefits that’s a plus.People have become very wary of ‘meetings’; that’s like a four-letter word to most so, if your business presentations can be done online that’s a plus.We also live in the Digital Age; Digital Products are the fastest selling commodity on the Internet right now. If your business is involved with the sale or distribution of Digital Information Products that’s a plus because they’re instantly delivered and can cut overhead expenses by as much as 80% for the Company thus increasing the Profit Margin.This simply means… More money for everyone!There you have it; my 5 top questions you should ask before joining any Home-Based Business.