One of the keys to succeeding in information product creation is to break the process up into discrete steps. This frequently isn’t an instinctive reaction for the typical information marketer. Especially on the internet where small sized learning products are the norm.

However, it is extremely important to your ultimate success. In fact, I would go so far as to say that if you don’t do this you probably won’t succeed… even when you are starting out let alone as you move forward.

Your product creation system should do this for you if only to help you to understand the overall task.

But why?

In this article, I’m going to ignore chunking and focus on the practical aspects. That’s not to say that chunking isn’t important. It is. It’s important to understanding and to learning the process. But while you can use the same chunks as you move forward, long term your focus needs to be on the operation of the system not the understanding of it. Unless of course you are constantly training new people!

So why is chunking important to long term use of the product creation process? (Yes, I know systems design uses a different term for this process but I’m not teaching you systems design. So I’m going to use the word learning content designers use.)

The first reason that having individual discrete tasks is important is one of schedule estimation. Frequently it is very difficult to estimate how long the total task of creating a product will take. After all, the size and type of the products matters as does the number of products in your product funnel. And those are just the most obvious elements. However, estimating a discrete task is often much easier. The total can then be estimated as the total of the discrete tasks.

Secondly, scheduling a large task can be problematic. However, by segmenting the task into a number of discrete tasks, you gain a much greater flexibility in scheduling. Not only that but as your business begins to add people you are able to schedule multiple people to the product creation.

Finally, segmenting a large task into smaller discrete tasks allows you to have much better control over the product creation. This affects two different areas — status and quality.

By segmenting your process into discrete tasks you are able to schedule and record the progress at much more detailed level. As a result you are more in control of the status of the product creation. You know what everyone is doing. When they should complete it. And how much it should cost. You also know exactly what has been done.

You also improve your overall quality. Instead of waiting until everything is done you can check quality as you go. This allows you to immediate react to low quality products without absorbing their costs. This means that you have less rework and your rework costs less. And if the product is not going to meet its quality requirement you will know about it in time to stop the development, change the requirement or fix the product.

Being productive in your home based business is one of the first things you want to get really good at. For one very vital reason. When you have a job you are paid for your time. When you have your own business your paid for your production. So the faster you learn how to be supper productive, the sooner you will have success in your home business, start to earn money and get the lifestyle you want. Here are 7 tips to get you on track for being super productive and successful.1. Take control of your “busy work.” What do I mean by “busy Work?” It is the non income producing activities that can steal your entire day. This is time spent disguised as work. Examples of these are, answering phone messages, answering emails, checking Facebook or Twitter. Income producing activities need to be 80 to 90% of your work time. “Busy work” is one way we all spend our time when we are procrastinating on doing something else that we are usually uncomfortable with or that is new and we are not quite sure of. Tell yourself you can do it and get started on the task!2. Set goals and tasks before the day begins. Know what you need to get done the next day before you go to bed at night. You need a clear picture of your next days schedule. Have goals set for the next day, week, and month. The best way to know where you are going is to have a clear path. Include a finish time or deadline for each task. Hold yourself accountable for when each task needs to be completed.3. Work in 50 minute intervals with a 10 minute break for each hour. Have a stop watch or some type of timer so that you have a set amount of time a task needs to be completed. I use the timer on my cell phone (it is silenced). It is amazing how much more concentrated your efforts are when you know you have a set time that the task needs to be completed by.4. One of the things that can really slow down our production is the feeling of being overwhelmed. This is a big problem anytime you are starting your home based business and learning a new skill. In order to keep the feeling of being overwhelmed under control, pick just one marketing technique and focus on it. Master it, become proficient at it prior to trying a new tactic. Your goal here is to pick one technique and make it a habit. Make the new tactic part of your schedule and routine until it becomes a habit. Give yourself about 3 months to really learn the technique, before adding a new marketing technique to your business.5. No multitasking. Multitasking is an inefficient use of your time. It takes your brain about 15 minutes to refocus on the task when going from task to task. It actually takes longer for you to complete your work when you multitask. Batch your activities into time blocks and focus on one activity at a time.6. Take time everyday for motivation and learning. Motivation and learning are crucial to your home based business success. Motivation is the one thing that you can never skip in your daily schedule. The time you spend on motivation and learning is separate from your income producing time. This is another place people can get stuck and use to procrastinate. Don’t spend time learning new marketing techniques and not put them into practice. The only way to earn money in your home based business is to take action on what you are learning.7. Journal your time for 1 week. Take a few seconds each hour for 1 week to see how you are really spending your time. Evaluate at the end of the week. Where can you improve? Are you spending 80-90% of your time on income producing activities?Bonus tip: Keep your life in balance. Schedule fun time, time with your family and friends. Schedule time to take care of yourself, to exercise and eat right. Know why you want to have your own home based business and review your why every day.Incorporating these tips into your daily schedule is vital to your business success. We all get the same 24 hours in the day but how we use the time will make or break your home based business. Remember you are paid for productivity not hours, and you are in control of how you use your time. The sooner you make these tips a habit the faster you build the foundation to your business and the sooner you get the lifestyle and money you are dreaming of.

Product creation in Internet marketing is getting stiffer and stiffer nowadays owing to tough competition between Internet-based businesses. Putting up a new product requires plenty of brainpower and finances along with an ability to take risk. With that, even if you have the product well-set already, you have to position it strategically in the Internet landscape for others to notice. You should get the interest of Web users and turn them to actual customers. Aside from the usual physical products, many different products that thrive well on Internet marketing include E-books, membership sites, and video lectures.

The long and difficult process of product creation begins with ideas. They are easy to get – compared to the effort that comes with analyzing the market for that idea. Before the idea turns to a product, businesses often spend money, even amounting to millions of dollars, to ensure the success of the new product that emerges from an idea. Businesses undertake many types of market research and surveys before releasing their products to the public. Now, you may think that because your business is small, you can’t afford research or you don’t have to do research; you can and you should. The Internet allows you to disseminate materials needed for your market study to many people at once without your having to spend a cent.

It is a common maxim in business: Look at your destination first before mapping out your journey. So what are the goals you intend to accomplish with your product creation ventures? The everyday travails of your business may make you forget the end in sight. On the other hand, prepare to entertain new developments that come to your mind in your product creation. Your conception of a product may have started this way, but a few tweaks here and there along with some market research results and it ends up another way. Take it as the result of a creative process, not as a failure to reach your goal. After all, your product creation activities are intertwined with a long-term goal that you should strive to sustain at your utmost: profit generation. So if your less profitable initial idea evolves to a more profitable product, be thankful!

With your product made up already, start doing some aggressive Internet marketing. A product purchase typically comes after more than five times a customer is exposed to an informative call-to-buy message. Thus it is important to get the contact details, like the e-mail address, of potential customers who are on the brink of a sale. Use the results of your market research to determine the demographics to which you should concentrate your marketing efforts.

With consistent product creation, you can make an inventory of your products that you can market in due time. Just keep making products – the moment you succeed in making and marketing a product, customers are surely wanting more from you, so give it to them. Keep them on your side through constant product creation.