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.

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.

Now that you have made an offer to acquire a commercial property and are waiting to close escrow, you may want to start looking for a property manager to professionally manage the property. Your real estate investment advisor should present you with 2 or 3 local companies, each with its own proposal. Your job is to decide which company you will hire. The property manager will be the main point of contact between you, as the landlord, and the tenants. Her main job is to:

Receive and collect the rents and other payments from your tenants. This is typically simple until a tenant does not send the rent check. A good property manager will somehow get the tenant to pay the rent while a lousy one will throw a monkey on your back!
Hire, pay, and supervise personnel to maintain, repair and operate the property, e.g. trash removal, window cleaning, and landscaping. Otherwise, the property loses its appeal, and customers may not patronize your tenants’ businesses. The tenants then may not renew their lease. As a consequence, you may not realize the expected cash flow.
Lease any vacant space.
Keep an accurate record of income and expenses, and provide you with a monthly report.
A good property manager is critical in keeping your property fully occupied at the highest market rent, the tenants happy and in turn helps you achieve your investment objectives. Before choosing a property management company, you may want to:

Interview the company with focus on how the company handles and resolves problems, e.g. late payment.
Talk to the person who will manage the property day to day as this may be a different person from the one who signs the property management contract. You want someone with strong interpersonal skills to effectively deal with tenants.
The property managing company normally wants a contract for at least one year. The contract should spell out the duties of the property manager, compensation, and what will require the landlord’s approval.

Agent’s Compensation: you will have to pay someone to manage and lease the property. You may have one company to manage the property and a different company to lease the property. However, it’s best to work with one company that handles both managing and leasing to save time and money.

Management fee: the fee varies between 3-6% of the base monthly rent for a retail center, depending on the amount of work needed to manage the property. For example, it takes much less time to manage a $2M retail center with just a single tenant than a $2M retail strip with 12 tenants. So, for the center with 12 tenants, you may have to pay a higher percentage to motivate the property manager. You should negotiate the fee as a percentage of the base rent instead of the gross rent. Base rent does not include NNN charges. Ideally, you want a lease in which the tenants pay for their share of property management fee.
Late fee: when a tenant pays late, he is often required by the lease to pay late fee. The property manager is allowed to keep this fee as an incentive to collect the rent.
Leasing fee: this fee compensates the property manager to lease any vacant space. In a typical lease contract, the leasing company wants 4-7% of the gross rent over the life of the lease. It also wants the leasing fee to be paid when the new tenant moves in. In addition, the leasing company wants around 2% of gross rent when the lease is renewed. The tenant may also ask for Tenant Improvement (TI) credit, typically between $10-20 per square foot to pay for construction expenses. So if a new tenant with a 10-year lease goes under after one year then you may lose money. As the landlord you should:
Approve a long term lease (10 years or longer) only when the tenant’s financial strength is solid. Otherwise, it may be better to reduce the lease to 3-5 years.
Make sure the new lease has a provision for some kind of rent escalation, preferably based on Consumer Price Index (CPI), i.e. inflation which is 3-4% a year instead of lower fixed 1-2% annual increase.
Consider TI request from the tenant as one of the factors to approve a lease. The TI credit depends on whether you need the tenant more or the tenant needs you more.
Negotiate for a flat rate renewal fee, e.g. $500 instead of paying a percentage of the rent for the life of the lease. The negotiation is easier with one company that handles both leasing and management.
Negotiate to pay the leasing agent a lower percentage, e.g. 4% when no outside leasing broker is involved.
You can see that it’s very important to minimize tenants’ turnover rate as it has a direct impact on the cash flow of your commercial property. A good property manager will help you achieve this goal.

Monthly Report: each month the property manager should send you a report on income received, expenses incurred, and property status. You should Review the report to see if the numbers make sense. You should:

Request a report showing both rent and CAM fees received.
Request a separate bank account for your property and have a monthly bank statement sent to you. Without this, the property manager will deposit and commingle all the rents from all properties that she manages into her company’s bank account.
If you instruct the property manager to send you the excess cash flow then you will also get a check.

Landlord’s Approval: the management contract should specify the dollar limit for exceptional maintenance expense above which would require your approval. This amount varies from landlord to landlord as well as the type of property. However, it’s typically somewhere between $500 to $2,000 dollars.

Communication with property manager: in the first few months, you and the new property manager should communicate often to make sure things go smoothly. You should give instructions in writing, e.g. email, to your property manager and keep records of all your correspondence. If the property manager does not do what you instructed, you may refer to your records and minimize disputes.

If you want to work hard for your money, you may want to manage your own property. However, if you want to work smart, your partner should be a good property manager.