Craft & Maker > Business > Product Line Strategy: Expand Your Offerings > Step 1: Find Your Next Direction

Product Line Strategy: Expand Your Offerings

Lesson 4 of 22

Step 1: Find Your Next Direction

 

Product Line Strategy: Expand Your Offerings

Lesson 4 of 22

Step 1: Find Your Next Direction

 

Lesson Info

Step 1: Find Your Next Direction

Sword and dive right into step one find your next direction and this is really the pre work this is where we sit down and we think about where you should be headed next. So your new product line should really be a mix of three things what's working in your current product line because this is going to inform us about what your existing customers expect from you, then we're going to look at where are the gaps in your current product line gaps in your card product line mean money on the table, so instead of thinking about market need, we're going to think about what am I not selling to my customers that I could be felling to my customers and making more money? And then finally you're gonna look at literally what are you most excited about exploring next? Because that has to be an important piece of it if we just looked at these two there's no energy in your new collection, this peace brings in the energy and it's really a kind of the wild card I'm going to do this and it's going to just ...

really energize everything else it's also going to help you kind of make decisions because you might end up with a lot of things here, and this is going to really steer you where you're headed.

Class Description


You need a healthy range of product offerings to sustain a handmade business, but developing a coherent and profitable product line strategy isn’t always easy. Learn the smart way to grow your business in Product Line Strategy: Expand Your Offerings with Megan Auman.

The right blend of products will stabilize your revenue and excite your customers. 


In this class, you’ll learn how to:

  • Come up with new product ideas that sell 
  • Fit new products into your existing brand 
  • Narrow your focus and plot a course for success
  • Strategically launch your new products into the market
  • Megan will teach you a simple system for expanding and evolving your product line. She’ll help you evaluate the viability of new product ideas and she’ll show you how to develop processes for launching new products and designs.

Product Line Strategy: Expand Your Offerings with Megan Auman will help you develop the right mix of products so your customers are satisfied and your venue is stable. 

Lessons

  1. Why You Need to Create New Products on a Regular Basis
  2. What Holds You Back from Creating New Products?
  3. The 4 Step Product Expansion System
  4. Step 1: Find Your Next Direction
  5. Exercise: What's Working with Your Offerings
  6. What’s Working: Student Example
  7. Exercise: Identify the Gaps in Your Product Offering
  8. Identify the Gaps: Student Example
  9. Exercise: Look to Your Passions to Inspire Your New Product Offering
  10. Step 2: Declare Your Intention for Your New Product Line
  11. Declare Your Intention: Student Example
  12. Step 3: Develop Distinctive Design Ideas
  13. Exercise: Gather Outside Inspiration
  14. Exercise: Carry Over the Common Threads from Previous Designs
  15. Carry Over the Common Threads: Student Example
  16. Exercise: Design Your New Product Ideas Without Judgement
  17. Step 4: Evaluate Your Ideas for Market Success
  18. Exercise: Identify the Unknowns in Creating New Products
  19. Exercise: Consider Production Costs
  20. Consider Production Coasts: Student Example
  21. Exercise: Look for Market Support
  22. Moving Forward with Your New Product Line

Reviews

Francesca Balagtas
 

This class was absolutely fantastic. Even though I've had my etsy shop for a while, it has always been something on the side for me while I was attending school full-time. Now that I have the time to really focus and commit to my business I can finally take the steps I need to build up my business and make some real revenue. Because of this class I now know those exact steps to push my shop with full speed ahead. Megan is fully engaging as well, which made the class easy and fun to follow along. Great class, Megan!

I Must Draw
 

Megan is a brilliant instructor and each of her classes is packed with information to take your business forward. This class has practical steps to help you identify gaps in your product line. Through her own experience of developing product lines she helps you to understand how to stay consistent and cohesive. This is a great class, highly recommend.

Danielle Celeste
 

Megan Auman is such an amazing artist, craftsman, strategist, and communicator. Everyone trying to make a living selling what they make needs to see this. I think this was my favorite class in the series. Getting such incredibly thoughtful, thought-provoking and concise information from an academically-trained fine artist and teacher was UH-MAZE MAZE!