#114 Build The Product That Builds Your Business
Last week, I ran a 90-minute strategy workshop with a founder who came in with a list of at least seven product ideas. I'm going to keep this anonymous so for the purposes of this essay let's call my client Jane.
These sessions are designed to help my clients work out the final details of their offer, and design their launch strategy.
Jane is a booked out business consultant – she doesn't want to take on more 1:1 work, and is ready to scale with some kind of group offer or digital products.
In addition, her social media content has been doing really well so she is steadily growing her LinkedIn audience. She gives away free resources and hosts free events where she is starting to nurture community.
She had a ton of ideas: courses, templates, a membership, group coaching, live workshops, etc.
She had thought through a whole funnel strategy for how her whole offer-suite would work and how products would lead into one another.
I bet that sounds relatable... how many of us have a note on our phones with a giant list of products & programs we plan to build 😂
And this is great ... but it's just a hypothesis.
The #1 thing people get wrong with their offer-suite is that they try to design the whole thing up front.
But the reality is that you have to test one product in the market, find product-market-fit, and then learn from that experience to figure out what you should build next. I call this your "anchor product".
Your anchor product is your signature product. It's the one you’re known for and talk about the most. And most importantly, it’s the foundation of your entire offer-suite.
I know ... that feels like a long road ahead. But that doesn't mean you can't test some things while you're building that one signature product.
Here's the strategy we came up with for Jane:
So we zoomed out, looked at Jane's strengths, her goals, and the way she actually wants to work, and we decided on a high-ticket 90-day group program to help a small group of clients with implementation.
This (or some version of this) is going to be her anchor offer that helps us design the rest.
Once we decided on the first product we're testing, we made her beta launch strategy.
This is where most people mess it up.
They either throw together a scrappy beta with no structure, or they disappear for six months building something "perfect" in the dark.
Instead, we mapped out a clean, focused beta that does exactly what it needs to do:
Validates the product with real humans
Prioritizes support and implementation over content overload
Lets her test pricing, positioning, and delivery with a small group
Creates an amazing client experience from day one
But in order to design the beta experience details, we wanted some more data... and a way to test if people will pay for this.
We looked back at her list of ideas and chose a workshop that was very related to the topic of the program. She's technically going to launch this first, but it's part research tool, and part marketing test, to warm up the right people and gather insights to shape the group program.
At $19-49, that workshop will bring in a couple thousand dollars. But most importantly she'll get the data she needs to position her group program to be successful.
That’s what a smart beta looks like.
If you’re getting ready to launch something new, here’s your cheat sheet:
1. Choose one product. Pick the product that’s most aligned with your future business model and the transformation you’re best at delivering.
2. Pre-sell it with intention. Use a workshop, 1:1 calls, a loom video, or a google-doc sales page to gather interest and validate demand.
3. Deliver it live, but with structure. Keep the delivery high-touch. Prioritize support, feedback, and implementation over polish.
4. Let the data shape your next move. Don’t build your whole business suite until you know what works. Let your anchor product guide the rest.
You can hire me for one of these workshops here.
Vojtech Vosecky hired me for a 90-minute workshop in the fall and he had a sold-out program launch ($50,000), and crushed product-market-fit. Fast forward to today – now that Vojtech has his signature program, we kicked off a Sprint this week to design his full offer-suite.
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