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Before you think of developing a product for export or even adapting an existing one, it is important to make a distinction between a product and a product type. A motor vehicle is product type, but a “Toyota”, a very popular Japanese car, is a product.

New product types are rarely created. An exporter who can come up with a better version of an existing product will succeed as a market for such a product already exists. The manufacturers of Toyota have worked very hard to make their cars so popular although the vehicles are not much different from any others you find on our roads. But think of how much harder they would have to work to come up with a completely new mode of land transportation.

There is business in the re-modeling or re-packaging of existing products, that is, creating new products out of the existing ones. Sometimes only very minor adjustments are required, for example, using a colorless clear bottle for a whiskey that is traditionally sold in an opaque bottle.

If you decide to copy products of another manufacturer you will be running the risk of patent or copyright infringement. But you can avoid the risk and still exploit the success of a new product by making slight modifications in the design of the product you want to copy as long as you do not try to confuse the public into thinking that they are buying the original product.

The Product:

Any new product ideas should take into account the following factors:-

• An understanding of how buyers conceive a product. This will include physical and non-physical elements such as the product itself, packaging, after sales service, brand name, the image it portrays and the benefits they expect out of using the product.
• The product must be made to meet the standards and styling of the customer and not the manufacturer. This is the importance of a good market research.
• Expected Life Cycle of the product. “Product Types” may go on for ever but “Products”, like all living things, progress in definite stages from birth to maturity, then death.
• Possible patent or copyright infringement which may lead to legal action.

The Product Life Cycle:

1. Introduction: The product is launched and, if it finds buyers, sales rise slowly,
2. Growth: The product is becoming accepted and if it catches on, there is a period of rapid growth in sales. If it fails to catch on it should be withdrawn at this stage for possible modification or to try a different market.
3. Maturity: Sales growth reaches the apex and starts to slow down,
4. Stagnation: Sales level off and further expenditure on sales promotion become uneconomical.
5. Decline: Sales start to decline as demand for the product goes down

When stagnation starts, research should reveal the cause and corrective measures taken before the decline commences. A product may be given a new lease of life by being changed in some way, either substantially or just the way it is presented.

It is important to note here that although it is true that the life cycles of most products follow almost the same pattern, the length of the cycle itself varies greatly. For example, the life cycle of fashion dresses is relatively short compared to that of capital goods which, in some cases, may be as long as 20 years. Life cycles of particular products or product types may vary from country to country.

Once the product life cycle is understood, the planning of when to introduce a new product or make changes on the existing product can be done more accurately.

Festus Muga

As a business consultant and BNI Director I get to help lots of business professional make the most of their word of mouth marketing efforts. Most often I am asked to evaluate their elevator speeches. You know their “60 second infomercials’” or “Sales Manager Minutes” as they are called in “BNI”. Over the years I have discovered over 2 dozen things that a person can do wrong when presenting their sales manager minutes.

This article is the first installment of a four part series on common mistakes made during 60 second presentations. In this segment I will discuss the first 5 of these 2 dozen or so common mistakes that I seen. These 4 articles will give you the cure for these all so common aliments so that your 60 second presentations will produce result and make you more money. Eliminate a few and you will see real results. Eliminate them all and the referrals will come rolling in. So let’s get started.

Common Mistake #1. “No Hook”. It is important that your last statement be a memorable one (hopefully a positive one too). People are more likely to remember the first thing and last thing you say and your hook can help “brand” you as the go to person for your particular product or service. Make your hook different, but easy to remember. Keep it simple. Using your companies’ slogan is ok, as is rhyme for effect. Keep in mind that you want to be remembered in a positive way so don’t make it too funny or off the wall.

Common Mistake #2. “Selling to your audience”, (i.e. you BNI partners) in stead of through your audience, (i.e. referral partners). People join referral network to get referral not be sold to. Make sure you remove or change the words “you and yours” when ever possible to something else. Don’t use phrases like “everyone in this room can use this”! Change the sentence from you need to buy this to; “so when you customers does xyz, tell them about me and my service/product”. Sell to their customer not to them.

Common Mistake #3. “Not saying your Name”. It is important that you always say your name when presenting. I often hear members of various net working organization say things like, “You All know me” at the beginning of their sales manager minutes. Although this may be true, often times there are people in the room who don’t know you. These “visitors” to your net work meeting are clueless to who you are. They could very well need your product or service and with out your name in hand, they may have to leave with out being able to connect with you. Get use to saying your name every time you present and you will never miss an opportunity with a visitor.

Common Mistake #4. “Going to short!” It is important that you use every second of your time when doing a 60 second presentation. You did pay for that time didn’t you? Would you go to a radio station and pay for a 60 second commercial and be happy when you only get 30 second of air time? No way! Create 60 second presentation, (or what ever time frame you are given). Use the whole amount of time allotted. So remember this. If you meet 50 times a year you only get 50 minutes a year for this type of advertising. If you’re in a BNI chapter don’t waste these precious moments. If you’re in any other networking organization the same goes for you!

Common Mistake #5.” Going too long!” If your sales manager minute goes too long, you quickly start to lose credibility with your audience. “Going to long”, is being disrespectful of the other time. It also makes you look unprepared and unprofessional. Rehearse and time your 60 second presentations. Take advantage of the spot light you’re given.

In my next segment I will discuss 5 more common mistakes made during 60 second presentations. Each segment will cover 5 or 6 topics. All of these common mistakes affect you’re ability to get qualified referrals from the people you meet. Eliminating these common mistakes will greatly increase your result and land you that dream referral you’ve been looking for. Until then, work on these and let me know how it’s helping you. If you would like to know more about this subject, visit my free blog to read several other articles covering word of mouth marketing.

I think just about everybody’s heard that when asked what their greatest fear is, most people answer “public speaking” – ranking it higher than DEATH! Now I don’t know if it’s really true that most people would literally rather die than speak in public. But having conducted numerous presentation skills seminars, and coached countless individuals on their presentation style, I do know that many people are pretty shaken up when asked to make a speech or a presentation.

The question I hear most in my work is, “How can I get over my fear of public speaking?” Well there are actually lots of things you can do to minimize or even eliminate the jitters. But before I get to them, let’s consider for a moment just what fear is.

It’s important for you to understand that fear isn’t actually real. You’re probably thinking, “It sure feels real to me, when my palms start sweating, my mouth goes dry, my heart starts racing and I forget my name.” But fear is nothing but anxiety or concern over an imagined outcome of some yet-to-occur event. The thing we fear hasn’t happened. And there’s a pretty good chance it never will. Some self-help gurus have even created an acronym to explain this:

F.E.A.R. – False Evidence that Appears Real.

There’s a story about an old man who was chatting with his grandson. “Grandpa, you’ve lived a long time,” the younger man said. “Would you say that life is hard or easy?” “Life is very difficult,” the older man answered. “Over the years, I’ve endured thousands of horrible experiences. And one or two of them actually happened.” Of course, while they exist only in your head, lots of fears are reasonable. The fear of getting hit by a bus racing towards you, for example. But when it comes to speaking in public, you just IMAGINE that you’ll stutter. You IMAGINE that you’ll forget what you’re supposed to say. You IMAGINE that your words will sound foolish or your accent will come through or you’ll perspire too much or tongue will get thick or, or…and all that imagining freaks you out!

In fairness, there are lots of variables when we speak. We feel like most of these things are out of our control; so it’s understandable that we might obsess about all the ways disaster can strike.

So just what can you do to stop yourself from all that destructive imagining, or at least keep your worrying down to a manageable level?

Simple: get rid of the variables.

In other words, PREPARE.

I tell my clients this all the time: I wish I could give you a magic bullet. “Imagine your audience in their underwear.” “Breathe deeply and exhale hard one-hundred times before you begin.” “Rub your head and pat your stomach for five minutes.” But there’s no such solution. If you want to stop being afraid, you must take responsibility for creating a situation in which the things you fear won’t happen. Like I said, get rid of the variables.

Afraid you’ll forget what you’re supposed to say? Spend adequate time learning and understanding your presentation. As a member of the National Speakers Association, I had the opportunity to meet and observe some of the best professional public speakers in the business. Their styles varied, but they had one thing in common: they knew their material cold. They could give their presentations anytime, anywhere, under any circumstances. It takes that kind of preparation to ensure a professional result every time.

Worried your mouth will get dry? Make sure you have water nearby and bring along some lozenges or hard candies.

Concerned that your presentation will sound unimpressive, take the time to develop and organize your content thoroughly. Write it out. Rewrite it. Test it on others, people who can offer honest, valuable suggestions for improvement.

Then practice. When you’re done, practice again. And when you’re finished with that round, practice some more. Practice out-loud, not just in your head. Practice exactly the way you will present – standing (if that’s the case), using PowerPoint or flipcharts or whatever. I wrote earlier that there was no magic bullet. Well the closest thing to one is practice. I’ve seen it hundreds of times. The people who practice most are the most at ease – and give the most polished and professional presentations. Practice is the one thing that can turn the deadliest public speaker into a master presenter.

Finally, public speaking is no different from any other skill. The more you do it, the better you get. If you are only called upon to speak in public once a year, how can you possibly hope to become accomplished, and thus, more confident? Look for opportunities to present. Volunteer (perish the thought!) to speak at the local Chamber or community organization, your kid’s school, place of worship, family gatherings, etc. Work your public speaking chops, and before you know it, presenting will be second nature.

Public speaking really isn’t rocket science. Think about it. You stand up, open your mouth and say what you have to say. Most of us can speak quite eloquently – as long as it’s a casual conversation with family, friends or co-workers. Put us in front of a roomful of strangers or worse, business colleagues, and we freeze. Take the time to prepare your content. Anticipate any potential complications and plan accordingly. Practice, practice, practice. And seek out opportunities to gain more experience.

And before long you’ll push your imaginary “fear of public speaking” way down to the bottom of your list. After spiders, maybe. A final thought… Pretend you’re surrounded by one hundred hungry tigers. What would you do? I don’t know about you, but I’d stop pretending.