Wouldn't you love someone to tell you the secret when it comes to How to decide which Products and Services to create? Even better – wouldn't it be great if they could tell you what to sell that will sell?!

Well, I'm here to tell you that if you know how to get curious then you can have this information coming straight to you!   When it comes to building out your ideas, launching a new product or service, it can feel hard to get out of your own head and come up with new options, ideas and ways of thinking.

One of the ways I've built my business (that has doubled in revenue year on year over the last three years) comes down to two key things.  One if really knowing what I want to do and reviewing and assessing the things that I create and secondly is asking questions and listening intently.  I come from a recruitment background so I'm a curious type. I'm all about finding the right fit to the problem, probing and digging deeper and really understanding what's under the surface – but at the end of the day curiosity is free and you can ask the exact same questions I do!

So if you're looking to develop your idea or figure out what your ideal client wants then it's time to turn super sleuth!

1// Make sure you're talking to the right people

I was chatting with one of our wonderful Brand Builders Academy ladies the other day and we discussed the fact that some of the people she had spoken to either wouldn't pay her rates or didn't get the level that she worked at.  So obviously my first question was – “are you speaking to your ideal client? I mean the people you really want to work with?  The people who if you could choose only a handful of them – they would be the ones that make you love going to work every day?”  The answer was No.  One of the issues that I find is that I send questions in groups where your ideal client may not be hanging out.  Businesses who want to work with larger companies asking solopreneurs what they want – there isn't a match there.  This is why I think ideal client interviews are so great.  You find the right people who want what you have, they are willing to pay for it and then you sit down and you ask them targeted and focused questions so that you can get to know exactly how to speak to them, sell to them and position what you have in the right way.

2// Get clear on what you offer

The other issue that I find is that at times businesses owners aren't clear on exactly what they want to offer or what they do offer.  Do you have clear products and services?  Having a place to start is always good. It means your potential customers can see what you do, how you do it and then decide if they want to work with you.  It through doing the work that you'll really understand what you love and what you don't. I mentioned it before that when I started out I was offering career coaching.  Just because I could do, doesn't mean I should do it!! (note to self!) I was career and life coaching a few different people and hating it.  This wasn't for me, but what I was thriving in was business coaching.  After building a successful corporate consulting business, pricing, marketing, branding and pitching in that business I was loving working with small business owners to get all their ducks in a row.  As I continued to do that (and that's what I still do and love to do) I also discovered that I was great at helping women in business to play a bigger game.  To help them stand out and have fun doing it! So all of these lessons informed where I took my business and what products and services I offered.  I retired my life coaching, career coaching and the mastermind matchmaker after trying them out and then realising that I didn't love it.  So you need to always evaluate what's working and what's not and your community, customers and clients will help you do that by the way they respond.

3// Be engaged to create engagement

Over the last 3 years, I've built the EPIC women in Business Facebook group.  The engagement over that time has been great. I've met amazing women who have been my clients and become my friends and they have no only been local but from around the world.  I've asked them a lot of questions (a lot – seriously – I ask them questions all the time!) and I've loved their answers.  They are honest and always willing to share, but in order to get that engagement, I had to be engaging and engaged with them for a long time.  You build trust and relationships over a period of time, as they say – it didn't happen overnight, but it did happen.  If you want to poll your audience and community then you have to make sure you give back as well and not just take.

4// Be a completer

I have a lot of ideas.  Ideas all the time – all day, every day.  It would be super easy (and it does happen sometimes) to have so many ideas that I don't actually implement them.  This is where not only listening but taking action comes in.  It's one of the biggest things I work with my clients on, is the action plan, the 12-month view, the strategy to not just plan but to make it happen! If you have note pads everywhere and lots of ideas but you're not actually executing on those ideas then you're never going to be delivering what your clients what and what you really enjoy doing.  Get structured in your approach to product and service building in your business.  I'm in a big learning and clear out phase in my business at the moment.  I'm making sure that everything I do leads to more people learning about me, my message, my business in a way that really helps them.  Creating new opt-ins that are fun for me to create, engaging for my audience and that lead to the right product or service for that person.  The only way you can make that happen is to finish and complete what you're doing.  How many unfinished ideas do you have laying around?

I totally understand that it can take time to really work through things…I like to call it peculating – but at the end of the day I want to drink my coffee, I don't want it just sitting there percolating forever.  If you want to attract more clients that want what you have then don't just ask the questions, take action and create offerings they can't say no to!

If you want to get planning so that you can start taking action then check out “Your Best Year Yet planner” and get started today!