Would you call a newlsetter a product?

Question

I recently took a break from a product I was building and decided to write a newsletter.

It's week 2, things are going great, but whenever friends ask what I'm working on, I struggle to call this a "product".

Realistically, I've:
- Packaged up info on startups and entrepreneurs, from books and thought leaders;
- I've tailored it according to people's needs;
- I've promoted it; and
- I'm attracting consumers.

Everything tells me that it is a product (whether monetised or not) however I'm so used to building things with code that I feel like it's cheating.

What are your thoughts?

Dexter Awoyemi · Accepted Answer

Thinking about it from the perspective of a consumer, I consider it a product. It has value and that value could potentially be monetised.

Felix Sjöstedt · Answer

I agree with the previous speakers. I would call it an intangible asset. It most defiantly has some sort of value and therefore it is a product.

Debajit Sarkar · Answer

I would call newsletter a product because anything that is produced by labor or effort or is the result of an act or a process can be defined as a product. A newsletter is an e-mail marketing product that companies/organizations use to communicate regularly with their subscribers informing them about the activities of their business.

Aaron O'Leary · Answer

I consider it a product solely because newsletters can and do provide a ton of value, a product doesn't have to be say a web app, it's anything that provides value IMO

Richard Awoyemi · Answer

@bujold19 Yeah appreciated, it's an info product - with the value be knowledge. Thanks!

Gabriel Bujold · Answer

It's 100% a product. Newsletters can be seen as traction channel & lead generation strategies, but if you're focusing on bringing value, it's something that people will love and share with their friends. If it's relevant, the action you're bringing to your customers is knowledge, and that makes it equally important as any product IMO.

Richard Awoyemi · Answer

@dextersjab Yeah, in this sense, it classes as an info product.

Richard Awoyemi · Answer

@felix_sjostedt Yeah, I don't even know that it's really intangible. Well I guess the value provided can't really be quantified easily so I appreciate the PoV.

Richard Awoyemi · Answer

@ethar_alali Yeah! I'm probably not even far from monetising it, I think the lack of code made me feel like it wasn't adequately definable as work. But you're right, it really is, plus they're alot of effort!

Mr Ethar Alali · Answer

Definitely agree it's a product! Some people even still earn from this.

Think of a product as a unit of work. Make every unit of work valuable and the term "product" is well deserved.

Richard Awoyemi · Answer

@dsarkar Love this, thanks for clarity!

Richard Awoyemi · Answer

@aaronoleary Yeah, I think I just require a shift in mindset on my part. In my defence, my background is full of SaaS products. 😅

mhu8128 · Answer

@aaronoleary Huge newsletters with a large subscription, sometimes the readers can be the product as well.

Would you call a newlsetter a product?

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