Dave Navarro built a six-figure income by figuring out what his target audience wants and devising products to fill their needs. Now he helps other entrepreneurs grow and connect with their audience and create successful products. I put a few questions to Dave that I thought would be interesting for Sticky eBooks readers. His workshop double feature Creating Products That Sell & Building a Responsive List is on sale through Tuesday.
Why do you love product launches?
I love launches because they give people a chance to make more sales in a week than they typically make in a year. It gets people very focused on doing all the “right” things in terms of building their business – the networking, the visibility, and the contribution/conversation (via great pre-launch content).
My favorite aspect is seeing how happy clients get when they hit a goal they didn’t think they could get, or when they connect with other people who they thought were “out of their league.” I’m all about breaking limiting beliefs.
How do you decide what content is free versus what you charge for?
Well, the paid stuff is just the higher-level version of the free stuff. For example, I might tell people, “Ok, let me walk you through 10 great models for product creation that you hadn’t thought of,” and that’s free and useful content. People can take notes, come up with great ideas, and spread the word about the free stuff.
But the paid stuff would be about step-by-step how to make all 10 models … and how to package them really effectively … and advanced strategies for pricing and promotion.
So basically, the free stuff I try to make as “make you smarter / give you ideas stuff” and the paid content is more like “let me take what took me a year to learn and condense it into a few hours of really advanced training.”
Which product was your first launch and how much money did you make?
My 30 Hours a Day time management program was my first formal launch, and off of a list of less than 200 I netted a few thousand dollars. Sadly, I don’t have exact numbers, but it was in the low four figures and when I first realized “wow, I can really do this stuff.”
What type of product do you suggest people start with for their first launch?
If they don’t already have a substantial, responsive list, I really recommend a mini-product to test the waters. You don’t want to spend 3 months on a labor of love only to have no one to sell it to. I actually have a free workbook How To Start Making Real Money With Your Own Products In 3 Days that’s all about how to do this.
If I was starting over, I would have done this instead of making the 30 Hours a Day program (which was 11 CDs long). I could have made more money and grown my list faster releasing each CD as a mini-product over time.
How big should their list be for a first launch?
Size doesn’t matter. *ahem.* It’s about the responsiveness of the list. If you have a list of 10,000 people who don’t know you well yet, you might make 10 sales. If you have a list of 100 people who adore you and who you’ve made real connections with, you might make 30 sales.
The things I tell people is you want to focus on a) making your list grow steadily and b) making your list more engaged with you. Talk to them, ask them to hit reply on your emails, blog about them when appropriate. The relationship is everything. Copywriting is like 10% compared to that.
What kind of market research do you do to prepare for a new product?
I listen to my list. I look at blog comments on my blog and other people’s blog. I don’t research the market, I listen to where people are shouting out “help!” and rush in to create something to fill that need.
That way I don’t have to worry about being the world’s best copywriter. 
I just make stuff people already say they need.
What is the first thing you do when you begin planning a launch?
I look at who my audience buys from, and they to make sure I don’t schedule a launch in the same window as they do. Otherwise my potential buyers may have just spent that month’s training money with one of them, or vice versa.
How do you keep writing when you don’t feel like it?
This happens often. I focus on particular people who are struggling and need the information I can give them, and I focus on not letting them down.
Check out Dave’s workshop Creating Products That Sell for his step-by-step breakdown for how to create high quality products your audience will love.
