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A product can be many things. In my case it is the most obvious: I want to bring the knowledge I have acquired over the last years into a form that is useful for others. And since I don't have a well-heeled investor or a production facility (and the risk and logistics of physical products don't seem manageable at this point), I'm doing what I know how to do: digital tools. But before I go into more detail about what that means, let's first address a fundamental question:
Good question. Well, while others dream of a fancy car, a six-pack of steel or a dazzling Instagram celebrity, I've been dreaming of my own product for years. If you want to know what song is constantly running through my head, you can sing along with me here:
Why do I dream of the colorful lanterns er from the own product? Well, there are several reasons:
I want to create something that not only benefits one person or group (like my client projects and commissioned work), but has the potential to be useful to many people. Something that is available to all who can take advantage of it.
I love to design and if I sit still for too long, I get restless. However, when there are holidays or school vacations, it often gets a little quieter on my clients' end. So these times are perfect for working on my own projects.
What I like about customer projects is that I can dive deep into topics from different worlds. Having my own product allows me to choose the topics I want to delve into.
Our world is changing at a rapid pace. I believe that change happens whether we want it to or not. Staying in the now is not possible. We have two options: we can let ourselves drift or we can take the helm ourselves. That means breaking new ground, daring to do something and trying it out. In one's own comfort zone, rarely does anything too exciting or growth happen.
I'm attracted by the idea of building something that challenges me in all areas. A project that stretches all my abilities to the limit and regularly forces me to jump over my shadow and try something new. Working on my own product offers me precisely this challenge.
Ok, now we know that there is no lack of motivation. We're sitting in front of a pile of colorful Lego bricks (each representing an experience, skill, or knowledge we bring to the table) and we're ready. But what are we going to build? I thought I'd focus on the area I have the most to say about.
I thought I'd stick with the question that's always been on my mind: "How can you translate content into images that ensure complex content is accessible, understood, and remembered by a wide audience?"
The idea is to summarize and make usable for others the knowledge I have acquired over the last years. In short: I'm transforming step by step the elements I've integrated into my work (flipchart design, illustration, graphic recording, explainer videos,...) into resources for others who either want to learn the craft themselves or are looking for ready-made tools to get started right away. What do I have in mind? Blog articles, tutorials, templates, step-by-step guides, image sets, webinars, newsletters, social media posts, podcasts, downloads,... a whole universe of ideas.
That in itself is a not too simple (or modest) plan. But ("shoot for the moon", it is called) it should not remain with that. I also want to grow and learn together with you. So, not only repeat what I can do, but also explore new things myself and take a closer look at topics that I have only touched upon so far.
Now it's time to get down to business. Enough making plans, let's get down to implementing them. Because the best plan and the most ambitious ideas help exactly nothing and no one as long as they are only in my head. Therefore: roll up your sleeves and let's go.
Just as every ship needs a port, every digital product needs a suitable website. For me, that meant throwing my existing website overboard and building a completely new one. Sounds easy? Well, hats off then (and hand over your business card, please). To me, it sounded like a gigantic pile of work, endless question marks, and potential icebergs to navigate around. Because I wanted to implement this as best as I could on my own, so that I can make changes and additions myself in the future without having to pay a funky ad agency and an IT developer for every comma I want to move.
First, then, research. If you've ever tried to explore alternatives for hosting a website or webshop options, you've probably realized very soon: there are way too many options. And all of them are advertised like THE solution for everyone and everything. Which one is the right one? What are the advantages and disadvantages of the various offerings? Where do they differ? And how can I ever implement this on my own without any serious programming skills?
Instead of a long list of a thousand options, pros and cons, or price comparisons, here are the solutions I finally chose:
Webflow is an alternative to Wordpress that requires some training, but is so worth the effort. I'm very excited about the intelligent structure, the extensive academy (where you can learn everything that you don't immediately understand intuitively) and the possibility (almost without code) to implement even the most demanding design wishes.
Fathom offers statistics on page views and user behavior, which protect the privacy of visitors and therefore do not require cookies. I find it very exciting and helpful to know what arouses interest and how visitors come to my site.
The best tip I got (Alex, you are the best!). Paddle operates as a merchant of record, allowing me to sell digital products worldwide without having to deal with the tax laws of each country. Unlike some other online stores, Paddle is fully integrated with its own website.
Boathouse is the perfect complement to Paddle to run a webshop. Big plus: among other things there is a really great tutorial on how to get Paddle up and running (even as a non-geek) in just a few steps.
If you want to offer your products in more than just one country, you would be well advised to make your website multilingual. This is an endless amount of work if you do it manually. Not to mention the technical pitfalls. I discovered Weglot by accident and had a fully functional English version of my website two hours later. Euphoria!
So. With that, everything was ready. Except for the product itself. Of the many ideas I had, I had to decide on one to start with. I finally decided on something that I liked for several reasons at once: flipchart templates.
One of the reasons was that my own visualization career started with flipcharts - so how fitting to start my products with them and to pick up all those who join me on the journey where I also found an easy entry point.
It was important for me to provide both inspiration for those who want to draw themselves, and a ready-to-print solution for those who want efficiency. And that with over a hundred templates: as vector files for professionals (in Adobe Illustrator), for easy editing for trainers (in Photoshop and Procreate) and for immediate use (as prepared .jpg / .png / .pdf / .svg files). In addition, I had in mind a catalog of all the images for quick reference and step-by-step instructions for tracing. Whew. Still sounds like so much. Where to start?
MVP stands for "minimum viable product" and, in simple terms, means reducing the product to its core and releasing a first version in order to learn from it instead of spending a hundred years quietly tweaking the perfect mammoth version. Or, as Wikipedia says:
A Minimum Viable Product, literally a "minimally usable or viable product," is the first minimally functional iteration of a product, designed to learn as quickly as possible from user feedback and thus prevent misguided developments that bypass user requirements.
That sounds good, I thought, and for my 37th birthday (how could it be otherwise) I offered 37 templates (initially only as pixel graphics) for free download for 37 hours on Linkedin. This way I could check if there is any interest at all (yay, there definitely is) and at the same time get valuable feedback.
The next step was to refine these templates (including all file formats) and integrate them in the webshop. I now offer these in my webshop - at a reduced price. So everyone who believes in the product will get it discounted if you buy before it is completely finished. But I don't promote it yet. As soon as new templates are ready, they will go online and will also be made available to all previous buyers.
The early buyers help me by motivation (every mail that confirms a sale still causes a dance of joy) and feedback. And they benefit themselves by being able to influence the development (wishes will be integrated in the still to come templates) and by getting the product strongly discounted. This phase is currently in progress. The final product should be online by the end of May 2023 (according to current estimates).
Besides website construction and product development, I have (as you may have noticed) started writing about myself and my process on a regular basis. I currently do this on my blog and on Linkedin via postings and a weekly Linkedin newsletter.
Soon there will also be a monthly email newsletter for all those who want to translate content into images, in which (unlike on Linkedin) not only texts will appear but also resources will be made available for free download (exclusively for subscribers). What do I write about? Currently a bit about myself and what I do (to introduce myself) and in the future more concretely about the topics for which I burn.
Somehow the writing helps me think and the regular deadlines help me stay on the ball. But more than that, the goal of the texts is to get into conversation with you, to get feedback that helps me to adjust my way and to get a feeling for what arouses interest and is useful for others.
I appreciate all the comments and messages that have reached me so far and if you continue to let me know how I can best support you in your visualization practice. What content would you like to see? What resources would make your work easier? What helps, what is missing, what would you like to see more of?
In this sense, I am happy if you accompany me on my way, read what I do from time to time, share the articles with others or your thoughts about it - each of your seeds will find a place in the garden that I am creating and that I hope will soon house many pretty flowers that you can smell and be inspired by, as well as one or two fruits that you can take home to strengthen you and plant the seeds in your gardens.
In this course, you will learn the basics of working with a flipchart. We explore materials, writing, structure, images and how you can achieve great results with little effort.
