Found the target, potential product

[Martini]

My last thread really got the wheels turning, especially after reading 4HWW on finding the market and then the product.

I've defined a market between the ages of 16-24 (which, 24 might be too broad) specifically those sustain employment and are still in high school or college.

The product would be specific financial guides detailing ways to save and enrich ones life by living frugal, determining specific needs and calculating costs associated for those needs, assessment of current finance structure and multiple ways to plan and save for a prosperous future.

This would be a unique experience to each customer as it would be required to assess and take notice of their own lives as it creates a financial plan around them and gives them a "here is how you do it" guide.

At those ages, most individuals are looking for an easy, straight forward way to do anything. Having something that says here is how you can save nearly half of your earned income, live like a king and have the things you want, and earn money by investing into your future would be a great asset to their future.

Is something that is a defined product for this market? Is there anything else out there? From my searches on line, I haven't seen anything near what I would like to do.
How much would you even charge for something like this when the average person would rather spend their money on video games, a night at the movies, etc?
Where do I go from here?

I think the biggest plus is that I'm 20 years old and have been following a specific model that has lead me to able to have saved nearly half of my earned income this year which is almost $4500, which I expect to have over $10,000 in my bank account by years end, and still maintain a life where I can go out and have a great a time without worrying if I can make next months payment.

One of my major goals in life is to empower youth and teach them how to be responsible with money as I see a lot of my peers not being able to afford basic necessities because they just spent $300 on a sound system for their car or they don't understand basic budgeting.

A Criticism Sandwich would be greatly appreciated!

[ISeemToBeAVerb]

I think your product sounds great. I do, however, understand your concern for demand within your target market. When I was that age most kids really were not interested in learning personal finance. One option for testing might be to drive a campaign directly at the youth market while also directing one toward their parents, see which one bites more often and continue in that direction. Personally, I can see these guides selling more to parents who wish to teach their kids how finance can change their lives rather than to the kids themselves. With the right marketing, I think either way can work for you.

[MuseMojo]

Or you could aim your product at those who are already in trouble and know it. People who've spent too much and are looking at big bills already. Maybe there are some yahoo groups or something you can test with?

At least people in these groups would appreciate what you have to offer and would welcome it.

[searstower]

Martini,
Great job on finding a market first and creating a product to fit their problems! I started getting more involved in my finances at 22 and even though I am still the most financially literate of all my friends, I wish I had started even sooner.

The only product I've seen that sounds similar is Suze Orman's "Young, Broke and Fabulous" books and money guide. It's not quite the same but that's probably your closest competition.

However keep in mind that typically, the narrower the market, the easier it is to reach and the better return on investment for your advertising dollars. If you can narrow your market down a bit even further, then I think you will get to the point of making cash faster.

In case this helps, I didn't start thinking about money until I was out of school already and in a corporate job paying off my school loans.

It's possible that the biggest buyers of your product will be in similar situations. They would have money to burn on buying your product and they want to know what to do with the extra money they have. If other kids get it and buy it, then that's gravy.

I think the biggest plus is that I'm 20 years old and have been following a specific model that has lead me to able to have saved nearly half of my earned income this year which is almost $4500, which I expect to have over $10,000 in my bank account by years end, and still maintain a life where I can go out and have a great a time without worrying if I can make next months payment.

I think you just defined your marketing spin! To find out how much to charge for it, ask some people in your market that don't know you very well how much they would pay to have a great social life free of money worries, assurance of being able to make rent next month and still have over $10,000 in the bank at the end of the year?

I would guess that you could charge anywhere from $47 to $149 depending on how you spin it and what the format of the information is in. (You can typically charge more for email Courses with 'homework' than you can for an ebook).

Good luck!
Rebecca

PS - how was the sandwich?

[Martini]

That was an awesome sandwich!

Thank you very much!

At this point, to further define my market, what would I be looking at to do so? I have now considered writting an actual book but I wonder who would actually take my advice without any major success to show from it? Some self doubt as I can see there is going to be a lot of work involved in this project.

Thanks for the continued support!

[yeikow]

Thinking of the lower end of your age range, and how it may not be easy to reach them because they don't think of personal accounting that much...

How about talking their parents into buying the book FOR THEM?

Parents sure would be interested in their dollar-happy adolescents taking better care of "their" money.

[Martini]

Well, I have started developing my book.

I have a potential title in mind and have really started thinking about the content to provide and to break it up.

Anyone know of any places to read about how to write a book? I don't want it to be a bore to read and want the reader to really take a lot from it.

- M

[Martini]

Hey everyone!

It has been nearly a year and after being sidetracked and thrown off guard by life's little surprises I have returned to go after my real passion!

I have started working on the e-book and re-defining my target audience. I have already written a lot and currently I am looking to educate myself further on e-books. Any resources available on how to more easily write the book? I am trying to be mindful of my audience (16-24) so that I don't bore them with rhetoric and they can actually take something away.

[AntonTheKhan]

Although I never took student loans, for example, a further niching can be people fresh out of college with a huge student debt.
Now the thing is that your market can't be totally broke otherwise they will not spend their money anything, get it.

Now I have to ask you the million dollar question. Are you ready?
Who is looking for you and the information that you provide?
Cause right now it seems that you are looking at a segment of the general population and you are trying to say "you guys need to know how to budget your money", but are they looking for you? Are they going online and searching for ways to save money, or are they researching where to buy a cheaper car stereo and 22' rims?
In other words is there demand for your product that isn't really met all that well? Or are you trying to create a demand?
For example by taking a trip to freekeywords.wordtracker.com and typing "student loans" you will get a lot of searches. For example the combination of "bad credit" and "student loan" comes up often and has enough searches to probably make a viable info product.
So...can you help students improve their credit score fast so they can get better loans? Do you have a secret weapon that will help them do it fast? Do you know of a way to get government grants even with a bad credit? These are things you want to think about. Just showing people how to save a dollar here and there just doesn't sound like an exciting enough info to actually be a great product. You have to make it easy for them. You have to give them a "magic bullet" because people are lazy.
Maybe create Excel templates to calculate everything there is to calculate. Maybe do research in how to obtain government student grants for bad credit applicants, that no one else has bothered to research. You can sell this info as "secret" and little known, although it is probably available online for free if you searched enough.
So you gotta address the problems that people have and are actively looking to solve and offer them a "magic bullet" solution. This is the easiest way to create an info product that will work. So ask yourself these questions first.
Good luck.

That was an awesome sandwich!

Thank you very much!

At this point, to further define my market, what would I be looking at to do so? I have now considered writting an actual book but I wonder who would actually take my advice without any major success to show from it? Some self doubt as I can see there is going to be a lot of work involved in this project.

Thanks for the continued support!

[Martini]

Thank you for your input Anton! I can see now how I might be doing exactly what to avoid doing -- create a product without demand. I am passionate about educating youth how to save and invest into their future. Perhaps this isn't the best vehicle for me? Any other suggestions?

[Livingit]

I'm sure their are people searching for these types of guides, the problem is your competing with TONS and TONS of MLM spam.

[AntonTheKhan]

Pay off your student loan in 5 years...
You fill in the blanks

Thank you for your input Anton! I can see now how I might be doing exactly what to avoid doing -- create a product without demand. I am passionate about educating youth how to save and invest into their future. Perhaps this isn't the best vehicle for me? Any other suggestions?

[MJ1225]

You can get some great advice on MSN Your money message boards. Suzy Orman has cds and books on finances, for the youth. Check those out.