Jess Lively

Hey guys, I’m feeling a little feisty this afternoon. After watching many new business owners and business “experts” talk on and on and on about how to increase sales, grow a following, and “hit it big,” I’ve come to a moment where I just want to scream, “Stop and focus on the goods!”

Yes, there are lots of ways to sell, market, advertise, and get your products in front of customers. Yes, it does take some level of skill and ability to do it well (but then again, sometimes that’s not the case – dumb luck can be a factor too). But no matter how well you plan your marketing plan, your products aren’t going to sell if they aren’t what people want to buy.

What do people want to buy?

All sorts of things. They want the cheapest doodad, fastest doodad, original-est doodad, prettiest doodad, expensive-est doodad, coolest doodad, or most useful doodad. One or all of these factors can be at play in any purchasing situation. The key is to make sure that your products align with what your customers are looking for.

A spiffy website, cool branding, and enormous Twitter following are not going to compensate for a less than awesome doodad. In an effort to get a company or idea off the ground, people often speed through the product development and go right to the sales side.

As Gary Vaynerchuk says, marketing is queen, but content is king.

Make better stuff. Then go out and improve your marketing efforts.

If your doodads look like lots of other doodads and there is no catch to reel your customer in, you better start making better doodads. Then when people find you they’ll want to buy that really awesome doodad you made.

New to doodad making? That’s okay, just get started and keep designing better doodads. After all, that’s how I got started.