Welcome to The Idea to Income Guide
Congrats on taking a big step toward making your dream of owning your business a reality
It might be the next Airbnb!
This FREE guide is self paced, so you can take your time or binge watch all 8 videos (90 mins). Since there are assignments after each video I would recommend watching by Sections (3) it will allow you to think and do the assignments in each. But you can do it however you want.
Notes: After each video there are key points and assignments and they are highlighted during the videos. There are a few surprises along the way, so enjoy.
Additional help. If you need some additonal help shoot me an email mike@michaelgrabham.com or text me 206 354 8751.
What Clients have said about Mike
I have been working with Mike for over 6 months and he has saved me a ton of time and was also able to make some great introductions to two people who have been very helpful in getting my SaaS product off the ground. His thoughtfulness and generosity is not to be overlooked.
Dennis
Just met Mike at his “Make Your Startup or Business Idea a Reality” workshop and was totally impressed by him. He brings a wealth of knowledge, experience, energy and fun to his presentations. It’s clear that he loves what he’s doing. He was also quite generous in giving me better than 20 minutes of one on one time to help me understand the “cost of customer acquisition” issue. If you can work with him you should!
Morgain Harris
Section One
Video 1: What to legally do with an Idea
Key Points
Don’t spend money on ANY legal fees until know or have some indications its a good idea. Don’t take your Moms advice on whether its a good idea or not.
To get more details about the differences of Copyright, Trademark, Patent go here https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/111014/patents-trademarks-and-copyrights-basics.asp
What can be Patented? Go here for detailed more info https://www.legalzoom.com/knowledge/patent/topic/what-is-patentable
Share your idea with others to hear different perspectives, don’t keep it to yourself
Assignment
- Do your own research at USPTO.gov and Google for similar products/ideas.
- Meet or have a call with an Intellectual Property attorney… its normally free for the first 30 minute discovery meeting.
Video 2: Customer Research
Key Points
Is there enough customers to make a business out of this idea.
Research all the social channels for competing products
Useful websites for research
- Go to https://craft.co , https://opencorporates.com/, https://www.bizapedia.com/ for info about companies and industries.
- Find keywords and ads use https://www.Spyfu.com
- Find Backlinks of competitors to find partnerships https://neilpatel.com/backlinks/
- Monitor backlinks for content ideas, etc https://monitorbacklinks.com/
- Use www.SEMrush.com all types of info on any website. Keywords, ads, + more.
- Use Similarweb.com compare websites to find other similar websites
- Look up what ads a company has used. Whatrunswhere.com monitors ads across 40 networks. It’s expensive $300/month
- See if an industry is growing https://www.bls.gov/emp/tables/industries-fast-grow-decline-employment.htm
- How to do find who owns what website. https://www.labnol.org/internet/find-websites-of-someone/20550/
Video 3: Learn about Customers
Key Points
Always try to simplify your messaging including your 22-word explanation, easy to read, easy to understand.
Who is the buyer of your product? Target Persona.
Assignments
Create a 22 word or less explanation for your idea.
Create a Target Customer persona
Research to learn this at the minimum;
- Age Range
- Gender
- Interest/affinity to do/hobbies
- Location if applicable
- What websites do they visit?
- TV shows/online offline magazines do they care about?
Section Two
Video 4, Part 1 & 2: How to get unbiased feedback from strangers
Key Points
- Strike up a conversation everywhere to learn from customers.
- Ask questions about the problem you are solving, Listen more than talking.
“How are you currently coping with X problem?”
- Get them to tell stories, “Tell me more about that, That seems to really bother you, tell more about that”
- Take notes on what people say
- Use a time frame, In the last X months,
- Use a scale, on a scale of 1-10 tell me about X
- Ask why 3 times is a great way to learn more about your customers motivations.
Read the book “Mom Test” by Rob Fitzpatrick
Assignments
Memorize the top 3-4 questions you need answers from your prospective clients
Talk to at least 75 people who could be buyers
Section Three
Video 5: How to build simple website for non techie
Key Points
Pick a platform to build your website that everyone knows, I am a fan of WordPress because it is so popular everyone knows it.
How to build a 1 page website on WordPress https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1K1fopyOYpM
Read the book “Don’t Make me Think” by Steve Krug
Assignments
Find 5 websites you like and use them as a template for your own
Choose the platform/website builder for your website and get started
Video 6: How to Manage Your Time
Key Points
Know your priorities
Manage your time
Practice “Just in Time” learning
Assignment
What are you good at?
What are you bad at?
Find help for the parts that help your company the most.