Day 3: Validating the idea and Product Outline. (Gumroad 14 Day Product Challenge)

Today I have narrowed down the topic of my product (Communication and Engagement) with the help of my prospective audience. I created a poll on Twitter listing three common communication problems faced by researchers, in particular early career ones, and asked what they find the worst one.

After having received 60 votes, the result was: “I know what I want to say, I just can’t write it!”.

There were three learnings here:

1. The results are exactly as I expected, what may mean I know a little bit about this specific audience.
2. Even after I close the poll people still interact with the Tweet, which means I could have gathered more answers may I have let it run longer.
3. I really need to respect the “engagement time” of my audience. I know when this specific audience is around Twitter since they are mostly in Europe and Australia. If I tweet at USA times (following the timeline of the challenge) I get almost no engagement.

Now, having chosen the problem I will tackle, it is time to outline the product I want to offer. For now I have gone through the route of creating a single ebook, but I do like the idea of having an e-book with a hands-on supplement, or even having a video related to the content (following on the footsteps of Philip Kiely). I am just not sure I can deliver all these within the 14 days of the challenge so I will keep it ‘small’.

The product (working description): Aiming at solving common writing problems faced by PhD students and early career researchers, “I know what I want to say, I just can’t write it!” Mindset strategies to bring ideas from mind to paper is an e-book that addresses writer’s block and the feeling of being overwhelmed with too many ideas. By applying a mindset-driven framework to writing, coupled with practical strategies, this e-book brings a methodology that leads the reader from concept expression to a first draft without feeling overwhelmed. Use the 5 writing mindsets methodology today and start writing.

Working Title: “I know what I want to say, I just can’t write it!” Mindset strategies to bring ideas from mind to paper

Table of Contents

1. Unpacking the problem
   1. I know what I want to say
   2. I just can’t write it
2. Common (good and well-intentioned) advice and why it does not work
3. The 5 writing mindsets
4. Create: Putting your thoughts into the paper
   1. How to activate the right mindset?
   2. Strategies and Techniques
5. Connect: Clarifying the connections between thoughts
   1. How to activate the right mindset?
   2. Strategies and Techniques
6. Structure: Building a coherent argument
   1. How to activate the right mindset?
   2. Strategies and Techniques
7. Edit: Converting your raw thoughts into paragraphs
   1. How to activate the right mindset?
   2. Strategies and Techniques
8. Review: Judging the quality of your work
   1. How to activate the right mindset?
   2. Strategies and Techniques
9. Do not stop in the first draft
10. Ready to write?