What is an information product?
The simplest definition is an info-product is any product
that teaches something, or provides information.
That could include a book, audiotape, class, seminar,
computer program, or report. Before the internet,
information products were expensive to develop and
extraordinarily difficult to distribute. Publishers,
agents, engineers, classrooms, advertising all had to be
taken into consideration.
The internet streamlines the process of distribution. Books
and courses can now be downloaded immediately, without the
costs of middlemen, production, and mailing. The upside is
greater access to information to everybody. But because
virtually anyone can create a product, the quality of all
this information is less controlled. Caveat emptor.
Thankfully, our discussion today is not about ethics or
quality.
The goal here is to get you thinking about what you could
create.
Online types of information you could develop and sell
include:
• Electronic books or e-books
• An e-course—which consists of a series of email lessons
people receive over a
period of time
• Teleclasses or teleseminars—which are group seminars held
over a telephone
bridge line.
• Audio CDs, data CDs, or multi-CD programs of seminars or
interviews you’ve given
• Special reports available for download from your website
• Combinations of the above
Why would a service professional want to create an
information product?
First, to increase their credibility. A personal injury
attorney fights an uphill battle to appear ethical. A
complimentary report to all inquiries on how to identify if
a case has merit would begin to establish the attorney as
credible and competent. It might also shorten the lead and
intake time, while providing a valuable service to the
client.
I took a class years ago in basic auto mechanics, just to
avoid getting scammed. The man who taught it had his own
shop in auto maintenance. Who do you remains my mechanic 18
years later? By giving away “trade secrets,” Mike proved
his trustworthiness to me.
And of course we know a published book immediately
establishes its writer as an expert. The online equivalent,
or e-book, is generally self-published, but still goes a
long way toward enhancing expert status.
Second, an info-product can help you create multiple income
streams. Because most of these can be downloaded any time
of the day or night, without any input from you, you could
literally make money while you sleep. It takes time to
advertise and promote your products, so you may not want to
quit your day job just yet. But the idea is that once
you’ve got the product out there, 90% of your work is done.
There are 3 questions you want to ask if you’re thinking
about creating something?
One, who is your target market? For example, although women
in transition includes about 50% of the planet, women who
like to develop gardens on their fire escape is a bit more
targeted and therefore far easier to market. Make sure your
information is relevant and interesting to your market. In
1995, this article would not have been perceived as
worthwhile to most people. But had someone implemented the
information, they would have become very wealthy.
Two, what does this audience want and need? If they don’t
want it, it doesn’t matter how much they need it—there’s no
sale. You should not only know a lot about what your
audience wants, but you should love it. It’s truly no fun
to write about something you’re dispassionate about. I did
it for years, and I’ll never choose or need to do it again.
Three, what are the specific benefits you want to provide
your reader? I’m going to be so bold as to suggest there
are only ten benefits anyone actually wants, if that, so
you don’t need to rack your brains here.
What are the benefits? Jim Daniels listed them in his great
e-book entitled “E-book Secrets”:
Make money
Save money
Save time
Avoid effort
Increase comfort
Increase cleanliness
Increase health
Escape pain
Increase praise
Increase popularity
Once you’ve figured out your target market, the benefits
you want them to receive, and the appropriate delivery
format, you need to think about presenting your information
in an original way.
How can you present what you know in a way that is unique?
You’re not expected to create ground breaking information,
but try to present what you know in a different way from
others. Sometimes we need to read the same information a
dozen times before we get it. What causes something to
resonate with someone could be a variety of things: the
voice, the style, the format in which it’s presented.
Experiment with what works for you.
Self-Employed Professionals:For more information on building your business using the
internet, see www.ServiceBusinessCoaching.com
Article Source: http://www.articlepros.com
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