Intro
Have you ever wondered what the fuss about josie maran concentrate was? We’ve all been there. You’re at your desk working hard, and your boss comes to you and asks, “What are you working on?” Then he or she wants to know what it is that you have been working on lately. You tell them the story of josie maran concentrate (whatever that means). You can see their eyes light up and they tell you that it must be great because their own work just never gets produced.
You then tell them how great josie maran concentrate is in comparison, let alone how great it is relative to every other product they have ever tried. The conversation has ended and they leave impressed.
The problem with this is two-fold: 1) you don’t really know if they were impressed by the product or by what you told them 2) In both situations, whether it was a success or a failure depends not on the product itself but on the way it was presented (i.e., its value proposition).
In other words, if I didn’t like josie maran concentrate for some reason, then I would say so – but only because of its value proposition (e.g., “I’m always concerned about my health – so I need a quality multivitamin supplement which will keep me healthy throughout the day. And since I don’t really need any other supplementation products, josie maran concentrate is perfect for me!”).
And since no-one really knows why they like/dislike this product, then we cannot know what made them like/dislike it in our case; we simply have to accept people as they are and make sure that our product matches their needs and wants (in terms of features and value proposition).
Installing the Product
What you need to know is that it takes a lot of time and effort to get your product ready for customers. You need to do the work upfront, in order to prepare your product for launch (a few hours of work on your part). And once you’ve got your product ready for launch, there are two things you need to do:
• Launch!
Once it’s launched, what should you do? Well…
• Get out there and talk about it!
That’s right: you are going to have a great day once your product is live. You can talk about the value of the product at any moment, as well as other related topics (probably some feedback and questions your users have sent in). Be sure to set aside time after each launch event so that you can resurface and start chatting with new people! The more people who see your product the more likely they are to say “I want to buy this.”
This is where we come into play: we help our users set up their accounts on our platform so that they can chat with one another (and even create accounts), but also with us — we charge them a fee for this service, and make it easy for them. The more people who use our platform from day 1, the better chance there is that one of them will say “I want to buy this!” It sounds like a lot of work upfront, but nothing compared to the cost of not launching at all… And if you aren’t charging anything upfront, how can you possibly afford not launching?
So how do we do it? We offer an incredibly simple way for our users — including ourselves — get connected with one another quickly over the web. What makes us different from other platforms? Well…
Before I explain what makes us different I want to share my personal story. It isn’t important in itself, but I think sharing it will help paint a picture of what makes us different. I worked at Twitter until last month when they announced plans to shut down their proprietary social media platform (just like Facebook). At that point I decided it was time for me to go elsewhere… So now I am here writing this post on Medium following my exit from Twitter (but before I leave Twitter altogether). So my story goes something like this: As an employee at Twitter Inc., one thing we were really good at was promotion; in fact we were
The Product’s Ingredients
Josie Maran Concentrate is the type of product that has become a bit of an obsession for some (even if it’s not for everyone). A few months ago I wrote about how I am still struggling to decide whether to be obsessed or appalled by it.
The thing is, this is such a concentrated formula that it would be a little difficult to understand if you didn’t have the bottle in front of you as a visual aid. And even then, there are just a few ingredients and their names:
1) Water (or more precisely, Aquafina)
2) Citric Acid
3) Sodium Bicarbonate (baking soda)
4) Aloe Vera Juice (or more specifically, the extract from “Aloe ferox” and “Aloe barbadensis”)
Each one of these is interesting and worth knowing about. I can’t say enough good things about them individually — but as a whole they really work well together. The water acts as the base, while the other ingredients provide the rich flavor. This means that each ingredient has its own effect on your skin, so you need to pay attention to which one works best with whichever product you use.
I was intrigued by how much science there was behind the recipe. While most of us know that water and citric acid can help make things blemish-free, some people don’t know that sodium bicarbonate and aloe vera juice can also help kill acne bacteria (and probably also some other stuff too). The secret lies in baking soda. That’s why Josie Maran Concentrate was formulated as such — it has very low pH levels and therefore kills acne bacteria very effectively when taken straight away after cleansing skin. It’s also why it doesn’t have alcohol; this adds too much alcohol so that people would have to wait until morning before applying their moisturizer again. If you don’t want alcohol in your skin care products then this isn’t for you!
What’s in the Bottle?
Josie Maran’s line of products is a rare one (for a fragrance) which is available online, in department stores and at Ulta. The company was founded in 1994 by Maran’s husband, and since then the two have been friends, both of them amazing entrepreneurs. They have made several products together — including their first fragrance, Maran + Co — that are sold either on their own or as part of Josie Maran’s other fragrances.
Most recently, they created a line called Reserve Concentrate that can be used to create your own perfume from scratch as well as a perfume spray. In fact, the most popular way to tell how well the product smells is by sniffing it yourself: you can check out the reviews on the company website to see how people are finding it and whether it’s worth the investment (it can be purchased online or in department stores).
The new Reserve Concentrate has just come out this spring at Ulta, where I was lucky enough to sample some samples (I don’t always get samples; I have tried some!). Even though it’s not very long-lasting, Reserve Concentrate is beautiful. It reminds me of a kind of chypre or oriental scent with a bit more sweetness than most oriental perfumes I know. It also has an almost powdery quality which makes it feel light and fresh. I like Reserve Concentrate quite a bit!
Bonus: Other Ingredients to Look Out For
I have been using Josie Maran’s (Josie) concentrate for a few years now. I initially bought it because I wanted to use it in my skin care routine, but since then, I’ve found it to be the perfect all-rounder. It contains Vitamin C in an easy-to-use tube. Because I don’t like taking a lot of vitamin C (I just wish it was easier), this is perfect for me!
It may seem a bit more product-heavy than some of the other products out there, but whatever you do, don’t stray too far from what you know works for you. If you are going to pay for anything else, at least keep it simple — and Josie Maran’s is simple, great and effective when used as directed!
Conclusion
So, that’s it. I hope this has been helpful and informative. There are many lessons in this article, but the most important one is: The future of product development is very exciting! With enough work and smart planning, you can change the world.
And I do hope you’ve enjoyed reading about how we got to where we are now. This post was a lot of fun to make, but don’t get too excited — there’s still a lot more to come!
See you next week.
PS: It looks like I need to add more content on Product Development in my next post (the one about Ten Things You Need To Know About Product Development). So look out for that in a few weeks!