Selling Information~Buyers Pay Top Dollar For It!
Written by Tom Paige Friday, 07 January 2011 06:46
There are so many ways to make money online that entire books have been devoted to the subject, with each chapter offering a different idea. Creating and selling your own information products is a very viable method of building an online business - and can be an extremely profitable one too.
Before we look into the ways that you - or anyone - can start to create your own information products, we first need to define what information products actually are. To many people starting out, the very term, information product, is daunting and can put one off. But get past that and you'll soon realize that like most things connected to online marketing, the jargon often hides a simple concept.
People are always in the market for information. When they do a Google search, what are they after? Information. they are always looking for an answer to a specific question.
Simple questions get simple answers. Some questions are more complex and require more research. Many people that have the means would rather buy a ready made solution. Instead of doing the hours of required research need to attain the answer.
The more complex the question is, the more people are willing to pay for an answer.
In the offline world everyone has a view on what a book or magazine is worth, and will rarely pay a premium to read them. Online. however, the question that they have is specific to them, and if the information is valued they will pay a lot for for the answer. Why? Because it solves there perceived problem.
Information Products come in different shapes and sizes. A few ones listed below:
PDF files repackaged and called Ebooks. Are a typical information product that is sold. These Books are created on Word or with MAC Pages and sell any where from a few dollars to $100.00.
An information product that is just as popular is a Special Report. These are also PDF files that offer an answer to a specific problem, or teach a certain method on how to do something. They are typically 5-10 pages in length and offer a solution to a specific problem.
White papers - Sometimes the answer to a question can be contained in a page or two - a list of resources, for example.
Videos- People who seek information love video, and they are willing to pay more for them. With the ease of the Flip Cam, and screen capture pages such as Camtasia, its as easy as 1,2 and 3 to put out the information that hungry buyers want.
Audio - spoken word information products - often called podcasts - are popular with people who regularly use MP3 players and Smartphones as they allow folks to learn while on the move. Sometimes it is quite easy to simply read out an article or short report into a program like Audacity to make an audio info product that will sell well.
If you want the ability to market other products to your clients, you need to think about releasing information over time. The way to do this is to start a membership site. This will also give you ongoing income from the monthly fees.
Creating and producing your own Information products has a huge advantage. It cost you nothing to create,you get to set the price, and keep all the profits. You can literally start a business with zero overhead? Try that in the off line world.
You can also look to increase your business through an Affiliate program. You offer a 50% commission to people willing to promote your product to their list. They handle the rest such as PPC advertising, CPV etc. They are responsible for any ad costs you just pay the straight commission.
Yes you do offer a commission anywhere from 50-75%. It is not a lot if you think of it this way, it is a sale you never would of had. Half of something is better then one hundred percent of nothing. So its a good deal!
Many Information products are not created to be sold.
Sometimes it is better to offer your product as a free gift in return for somebody's email address. Building up an email list is a vital part of online marketing and can massively increase your profitability. It is an effort to attract new traffic to your offers, but if you have already got a list of 1000 people to tell about a new information product you've created, you can really boost your launch results with no extra effort.
When you create Information products, its a real simple process that keeps on giving. It has to be part of your Marketing routine. Its a simple way to get new sign ups and better sales conversions.
Information is the greatest commodity we can sell or give away. It is great to be an affiliate for others, but much better to be in the drivers seat for yourse
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