10 - Online Product

							10. Building Online Products


     An	
  “online	
  product”	
  simply	
  means	
  that	
  your	
  
     website	
  is	
  your	
  product.	
  


     This	
  is	
  the	
  case	
  with	
  my	
  company;	
  Docstoc	
  doesn’t	
  
     sell	
  physical	
  goods	
  or	
  offer	
  human	
  services,	
  our	
  
     products	
  are	
  the	
  digital	
  documents	
  and	
  resources	
  
     available	
  on	
  our	
  website.


     In	
  this	
  chapter	
  I	
  will	
  review	
  important	
  rules	
  to	
  
     remember	
  when	
  building	
  out	
  your	
  online	
  product.	
  
     I’ll	
  also	
  discuss	
  key	
  processes	
  for	
  building	
  a	
  great	
  
     online	
  product,	
  including	
  wireframing,	
  design,	
  
     development,	
  and	
  online	
  
     hos7ng.


     I’ll	
  then	
  dive	
  into	
  the	
  best	
  way	
  to	
  
     improve	
  upon	
  your	
  website	
  to	
  
     increase	
  traffic	
  and	
  sales.
3 Golden Rules

 As	
  the	
  CEO	
  of	
  a	
  website	
  and	
  an	
  acJve	
  member	
  of	
  the	
  startup	
  
 community	
  for	
  years,	
  I’ve	
  seen	
  some	
  online	
  products	
  flourish,	
  and	
  
 many	
  others	
  fail.	
  Based	
  on	
  my	
  own	
  experience	
  and	
  the	
  paths	
  I’ve	
  
 witnessed	
  different	
  companies	
  take,	
  I’ve	
  developed	
  three	
  criJcal	
  
 rules	
  for	
  building	
  a	
  scalable	
  and	
  successful	
  online	
  product.




  10-­‐50	
  Thousand	
  Dollars




                                                                                                                    Chapter 11: Online Products
 The	
  first	
  rule	
  of	
  thumb	
  is,	
  you	
  should	
  plan	
  to	
  spend	
  somewhere	
  in	
  
 the	
  range	
  of	
  $10-­‐50,000	
  dollars	
  on	
  your	
  first	
  web-­‐based	
  product.	
  
 Your	
  beta	
  version	
  won’t	
  have	
  a	
  lot	
  of	
  fancy	
  funcJonaliJes,	
  but	
  it	
  
 should	
  have	
  a	
  meaningful	
  enough	
  amount	
  of	
  user	
  interacJon.


 This	
  range	
  is	
  enough	
  to	
  get	
  a	
  first	
  version	
  off	
  the	
  ground,	
  one	
  that’s	
  
 complete	
  enough	
  for	
  people	
  to	
  play	
  around	
  with	
  and	
  offer	
  
 feedback	
  on.


 $10-­‐50,000	
  is	
  also	
  the	
  amount	
  the	
  average	
  person	
  can	
  probably	
  
 scrounge	
  together,	
  between	
  savings,	
  credit	
  cards,	
  a	
  side	
  job,	
  loans,	
  
 family	
  and	
  friends...	
  I	
  used	
  all	
  of	
  these	
  things	
  to	
  help	
  me	
  build	
  out	
  
 the	
  beta	
  version	
  of	
  Docstoc,	
  and	
  subsequently	
  raise	
  enough	
  money	
  
 to	
  build	
  out	
  the	
  product	
  further.
No	
  More	
  Than	
  3-­‐6	
  Months

 Time	
  is	
  your	
  most	
  precious	
  resource	
  when	
  working	
  on	
  a	
  website.	
  
 Technology	
  moves	
  quickly,	
  and	
  you	
  must	
  too.	
  It’s	
  criJcal	
  that	
  you	
  
 give	
  yourself	
  3	
  to	
  6	
  months	
  to	
  get	
  your	
  first	
  product	
  online,	
  and	
  
 not	
  much	
  longer	
  than	
  that.


 The	
  biggest	
  mistake	
  I	
  see	
  people	
  make	
  is	
  spending	
  a	
  year	
  or	
  more	
  
 to	
  get	
  their	
  first	
  product	
  online.	
  This	
  process	
  is	
  costly,	
  and	
  uses	
  up	
  
 Jme	
  that	
  should	
  be	
  spent	
  tesJng	
  the	
  product	
  in	
  the	
  marketplace.


 Don’t	
  build	
  out	
  more	
  features;	
  you’ll	
  be	
  surprised	
  how	
  many	
  of	
  the	
  




                                                                                                                 Chapter 11: Online Products
 features	
  customers	
  actually	
  end	
  up	
  using.	
  If	
  it’s	
  looking	
  like	
  you	
  will	
  
 not	
  meet	
  the	
  6	
  month	
  deadline,	
  narrow	
  your	
  feature	
  scope.	
  




Get	
  Paying	
  Customers	
  or	
  Scale	
  Free	
  Users

 The	
  final	
  rule	
  applies	
  when	
  you	
  get	
  that	
  beta	
  version	
  of	
  your	
  
 website	
  out	
  in	
  the	
  market:	
  you	
  either	
  need	
  to	
  start	
  geBng	
  paying	
  
 customers	
  immediately,	
  or	
  scale	
  users	
  very	
  quickly.	
  


 Only	
  these	
  two	
  avenues	
  can	
  lead	
  to	
  sustainable	
  growth;	
  you	
  can	
  
 either	
  start	
  making	
  revenue	
  through	
  subscripJon,	
  adverJsing,	
  or	
  
 other	
  channels,	
  or	
  you	
  must	
  acquire	
  enough	
  users	
  to	
  jusJfy	
  
 investment.	
  That	
  money	
  will	
  then	
  be	
  funneled	
  into	
  conJnuing	
  to	
  
 build	
  out	
  your	
  product.
How to Build an Online Product

  So	
  you	
  have	
  a	
  Jmeline	
  and	
  financial	
  benchmarks	
  for	
  building	
  your	
  
  online	
  product,	
  how	
  do	
  you	
  actually	
  build	
  it?	
  These	
  are	
  five	
  key	
  
  components	
  required	
  for	
  any	
  online	
  product.



  1)	
  Product	
  Requirements	
  Document




                                                                                                              Chapter 11: Online Products
  The	
  product	
  requirements	
  document	
  is	
  a	
  long	
  outline	
  that	
  details	
  
  every	
  single	
  thing	
  that	
  needs	
  to	
  be	
  built	
  for	
  your	
  website.	
  


  It	
  should	
  include	
  a	
  road	
  map	
  of	
  key	
  pages	
  such	
  as	
  a	
  home	
  page,	
  
  informaJon	
  page	
  and	
  registraJon	
  page,	
  and	
  it	
  should	
  detail	
  the	
  
  key	
  funcJonaliJes	
  of	
  each	
  page.




 2)	
  Wireframes

  A	
  wireframe	
  is	
  a	
  non-­‐graphical	
  visual	
  representa7on	
  of	
  your	
  
  website,	
  similar	
  to	
  a	
  blueprint	
  for	
  a	
  house.	
  It	
  doesn’t	
  show	
  the	
  
  design,	
  but	
  it	
  does	
  show	
  you	
  the	
  basic	
  layout,	
  and	
  the	
  framework	
  
  of	
  how	
  it’s	
  built.	
  See	
  some	
  examples	
  of	
  wireframes	
  here	
  and	
  here.
3)	
  Design

Once	
  you	
  have	
  the	
  wireframes	
  complete,	
  you	
  want	
  to	
  hand	
  
them	
  to	
  a	
  designer	
  to	
  create	
  the	
  actual	
  visual	
  webpage.	
  


Have	
  in	
  mind	
  the	
  basic	
  style	
  and	
  color	
  scheme	
  you’d	
  like,	
  and	
  
then	
  find	
  a	
  designer	
  to	
  drac	
  up	
  a	
  first	
  layout.	
  


You	
  can	
  use	
  99designs,	
  the	
  a	
  design	
  site	
  I	
  menJoned	
  earlier	
  
where	
  different	
  
designers	
  




                                                                                                     Chapter 11: Online Products
compete	
  to	
  create	
  
the	
  product	
  you	
  
really	
  want.	
  This	
  
allows	
  you	
  to	
  
affordably	
  
select	
  
between	
  
different	
  
opJons.




     To learn more
     about your
     design options,
     check out this
     course.
4)	
  Development	
  


                                                 Once	
  you	
  have	
  the	
  Product	
  
                                                 Requirements	
  Document,	
  the	
  
  Quick Tip                                      Wireframes,	
  and	
  the	
  Design,	
  you	
  
                                                 hand	
  these	
  three	
  over	
  to	
  developers	
  
                                                 to	
  synthesize	
  the	
  three	
  parts	
  and	
  
   Find the developers
                                                 build	
  the	
  actual	
  online	
  product.
   you need with
   websites such as
   Elance, Guru, Top                       Development	
  is	
  divided	
  into	
  to	
  types	
  




                                                                                                            Chapter 11: Online Products
   Coder, and oDesk.                       of	
  coding:	
  front-­‐end	
  and	
  back-­‐end.	
  
                                           Front-­‐end	
  developers	
  code	
  what	
  
                                           users	
  will	
  see	
  and	
  interact	
  with.	
  
                                         Back-­‐end	
  developers	
  focus	
  on	
  
 building	
  out	
  and	
  organizing	
  the	
  database	
  that	
  holds	
  all	
  of	
  the	
  
 website’s	
  informaJon.




5)	
  HosJng

 Finally,	
  the	
  website	
  you	
  build	
  out	
  needs	
  to	
  be	
  hosted	
  on	
  a	
  cloud	
  
 server,	
  such	
  as	
  Media	
  Temple	
  or	
  Rackspace.	
  You	
  may	
  also	
  
 consider	
  ColocaJon,	
  which	
  is	
  where	
  you	
  share	
  your	
  bandwidth	
  
 with	
  a	
  larger	
  company.
Getting Feedback and Users

 Once	
  you’ve	
  built	
  the	
  first	
  version	
  of	
  your	
  product,	
  the	
  most	
  
 important	
  things	
  you	
  want	
  to	
  focus	
  on	
  are	
  geBng	
  user	
  feed	
  back,	
  
 and	
  then	
  acquiring	
  more	
  users.


 Think	
  about	
  the	
  creaJon	
  of	
  a	
  movie;	
  the	
  screenwriter,	
  director,	
  cast	
  
 and	
  editors	
  might	
  all	
  spend	
  2	
  years	
  making	
  it,	
  and	
  then	
  the	
  product	
  
 is	
  complete;	
  an	
  unchanging	
  piece,	
  set	
  for	
  the	
  rest	
  of	
  Jme.




                                                                                                               Chapter 11: Online Products
 A	
  website,	
  however,	
  is	
  a	
  living	
  and	
  growing	
  en7ty.	
  The	
  beta	
  
 version	
  of	
  my	
  website	
  hardly	
  looks	
  anything	
  like	
  it	
  does	
  today,	
  and	
  
 that’s	
  okay.	
  Your	
  goal	
  is	
  to	
  get	
  
 that	
  first	
  version	
  up	
  as	
  quickly	
  
 as	
  possible	
  (hence	
  the	
  3-­‐6	
  
 month	
  Jme	
  limit	
  set	
  earlier),	
  
 and	
  start	
  driving	
  traffic	
  to	
  it.                  7 Ways to
                                                                Drive Traffic
 Once	
  you	
  get	
  users	
  on	
  your	
  
 site,	
  you’ll	
  ocen	
  realize	
  that	
                   Learn seven free ways to
 people	
  will	
  end	
  up	
  using	
  your	
                 drive online traffic to your
 site	
  differently	
  than	
  you	
                            website in this eBook,
 expected,	
  and	
  focus	
  on	
                              which explores how to
 different	
  features	
  than	
  you	
                          leverage SEO, Social
 anJcipated.	
  You	
  will	
  then	
  have	
                   Media and Biz Dev for
 the	
  ability	
  to	
  go	
  in	
  and	
  start	
             growth. For a more
 focusing	
  and	
  targeJng	
  on	
  what	
                    detailed break-down, see
 the	
  users	
  are	
  actually	
  doing.                      the Marketing chapter.
Resources Recap
• 	
  Building	
  an	
  Online	
  Product	
  (package)
       • 	
  How	
  to	
  Build	
  an	
  Online	
  Product	
  (course)	
  
       • 	
  Build	
  a	
  Great	
  Internet	
  Company	
  (Lecture)	
  
• 	
  3	
  Golden	
  Rules	
  (video)
• 	
  How	
  to	
  Build	
  an	
  Online	
  Product	
  (video)
• 	
  What	
  are	
  Wireframes?	
  (doc)	
  
       • 	
  Wireframe	
  examples	
  (doc)	
  (doc)
• 	
  Elements	
  of	
  Design	
  (course)




                                                                                   Chapter 11: Online Products
• 	
  Design	
  Resources
       • 	
  99	
  Designs	
  
• 	
  Freelance	
  Developer	
  Recruitment
       • 	
  Elance,	
  Guru,	
  Top	
  Coder,	
  and	
  oDesk
• 	
  HosJng	
  OpJons
       • 	
  Media	
  Temple,	
  Rackspace	
  and	
  ColocaJon
• 	
  Gekng	
  USers
       • 	
  7	
  Ways	
  to	
  Get	
  Traffic	
  Online	
  for	
  Free	
  (eBook)
         • 	
  Search	
  Engines	
  (course)	
  (PPT)(doc)
         • 	
  Social	
  Media	
  (course)
         • 	
  Partnerships	
  &	
  BD	
  Deals	
  (course)	
  (video)	
  (doc)