You’re getting traffic from Pinterest – what do you do next? Is product creation the next step for your business? Is this a good way for you to monetize your site?
Today, I’m talking with my friend Barbara Hobart about creating your own private-label products. Barbara really demystified the product creation process for me. In this episode, she breaks it down in a way that isn’t scary or overwhelming.
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From Playwriting to Creating Switchplate Covers
Barbara started her career as a television writer and producer. She’s been a writer for many years now. Back in the ’90s, she was on a break and spending a lot of time at home. During this time, she worked on many home improvement and decorating projects.
During this time, she also started creating decorative light switch plate covers for her home. Several friends suggested that she sell them. Thinking that this might be a good idea, she hired some stay-at-home moms to make the plate covers for her so that she could sell them. At first, she didn’t make a lot of money, as she only sold them to friends and to area shops.
She was visiting friends in London and wanted to gift them with some of her plate covers. She discovered that they couldn’t accept them since, in the UK, the plate covers have the wires embedded in them (you have to have an electrician remove them). Upon this realization, Barbara set out to make a cover that didn’t require rewiring.
She launched her company, Home Plates, in England, nine months later.
After that, she started creating other products. Today she teaches brands how to create their own custom products.
The Case for Product Creation
Why Should I Create Products for my Business?
Why send your people to Amazon or another affiliate when you could be selling your own products on your own site?
For Barbara, it’s just that simple.
It takes time to figure out what your product is and how to create it, but it’s worth it. What is the foundation of our business? What do you want to do with your audience once you’ve attracted them?
Don’t send your followers away from your site once you attract them. Keep them engaged with your brand.
Bloggers spend so much time, effort, and money to create content for their sites in order to attract followers, only to send them away to someone else’s site to make a purchase. For Barbara, that seems counterintuitive.
The most overlooked way to build your business is to create a custom product that best represents your brand and is useful to your followers.
Common Myths About Product Development
These are the most common myths and objections that Barbara hears about product creation:
• It’s really expensive and takes a huge investment.
• You need a huge following.
• You have to order a huge amount of product to get started.
• You need to wait until you’re well-established in your business.