Productize Your idea, Message…Whatever
Black women have the keen ability to make something out of nothing. Much of this comes from shared ancestral struggle, but we’ve flipped that concept on its head. Our knack for creating despite imposed hinderances, gives us a competitive edge in the world of productization.
What Is Productization?
The root word of productize is product. Hence, to productize is to take a skill, hobby, passion or intangible idea and make it into something sellable. According to Investopedia, productize “refers to the process of developing or altering a process, idea, skill, or service to make it marketable for sale to the public.”
Creating a product or service is the first step when entering the global marketplace. You must have something to sell. That’s rule number one. Once you know what you’re selling, then you can create a branding, marketing and advertising strategy around said product or service. This seemingly obvious portion of the business equation, however, is what trips a lot of women up. But productizing doesn’t have to be rocket science. Really anything can become a product by enacting five key steps.
Brain Dump Your Ideas
Ideas are not for sell. They are not products. And anytime you hear a Black woman shun the process of sharing her ideas for fear that they may be stolen, know this is a woman not ready to seriously enter the global marketplace. Ideas are a dime a dozen. Thousands of them enter and exit our brains every day. They don’t become lucrative or copyright/trademark worthy until they are outside the realm of intangibility. Therefore, daily idea brain dumps are a must. You must get yourself in the habit of writing down at lease 20 ideas a day. The simple act of turning ideas into a tangible list is the first step of productization.
Sift And Excavate Your Ideas
Once you have a week’s worth of brain dump ideas, go back and sift through the garbage and excavate the treasures. Just to be clear, most of your ideas will be trash. Anything can be productized, but not everything is meant to be a product or service you produce. The key is to excavate the ideas that naturally align with you and your personal and professional life goals. Get in the habit of narrowing down your ideas from the week into a list of possibilities to which you can apply executable strategies.
Give Legs To Your Idea
From your narrowed down list, choose one or two ideas that you can synthesize into an actual product or service. Let’s use this platform as an example. I’m a black woman whose been in the arenas of publishing, marketing, media and design for nearly two decades. I realized that no one was talking to black women from the perspective of black womanhood in the spaces of marketing, branding, entrepreneurship and public relations. I created The Black Female Marketer to fill the void. You can do the same thing. Referencing your list of ideas, what products or services can be created in order to fill the gaps, holes and voids that are most important to you?
Get Technical
Now that you know your product or service, get even more detailed. What is the product? Is it a physical or digital product? Who is your product for? How will you get your product to the people that need it? How much will the product cost? What is the product fulfillment process? How many people are required to get the product from purchase to the customer? Are there spin-off products or services from the initial product? How will you grow and scale the product? How will you handle complaints or returns?
Getting detailed and technical BEFORE you start selling your product will save you future headaches. Because once you involve money, customers and reviews into the mix, having that initial detailed blueprint will keep your sights focused on the main goals and purposes. You may have to pivot along the way, but always have a detailed map to follow at the onset.
Stay Sharp and Creative
Even after you create and sell your first product or service, you should continue to write down at least 20 new ideas daily. This will keep your mind sharp and always in creativity mode. From this space of ingenuity, you’ll never be afraid to share any ideas. There will always be plenty more where those came from. Plus, creative thoughts begat more creative thoughts. The flow of new ideas can help you rework, tweak and perfect the products and services you already offer. Never stop creating. It keeps the process of productization fun!