12 Steps to Creating Your First Info Product
The creation of your first info product is a huge first
step toward implementing multiple streams of income in your business.
It means that you have something to sell prospective customers to "size
you up" as they consider purchasing your services. It means that you
can sell something 24-7 from your website that demonstrates your
expertise. It means that you're well on your way to creating a passive
revenue stream for your business.
Unfortunately, for many, this notion of creating an info product comes
with a "fix it and forget it" mentality. Granted, the creation process
requires a great deal more work than the maintenance phase, but at no
time can you just leave it to the Internet gods that people will find
your product and purchase it. You'll be constantly tweaking your sales
page and your marketing strategies, especially if you're using pay-per
click as your primary marketing method. So, while an info product is
considered passive revenue because it doesn't directly involve the
selling of your time, that doesn't mean that you can passively stand by
and hope it sells.
Your process doesn't have to be as detailed as I've outlined here, but
if you want to do a thorough job in the creation process, I suggest that
you embark on all the steps.
1. Solution to a Problem. The best-selling information products
provide a direct solution to a major problem of your target market. If
you're a professional organizer, the problem might be how to clean and
store and organize holiday decorations so that they can be easily found
and used from year to year. If you're a weight loss coach, the problem
might be how to stay motivated when you've hit a weight loss plateau.
Jot down some of the primary problems of your target market and the
process by which you help your clients resolve these issues.
2. Determine Your Offering. Info products come in all types of
formats, from ebooks to ecourses to recorded teleseminars to podcasts to
special reports to CD and DVD sets. Take stock of your target market
and determine what format would best fit their lifestyle. Are they
virtual business owners who work from home at their computers for most
of the day? Then an ebook or ecourse would probably work well for this
group. Are they busy executives who travel frequently? Then you might
consider a portable audio format. You can also combine formats to
appeal to a variety of learning styles or lifestyles.
And, of course, cost is a major consideration. Do you want to create a
physical product that has to be shipped, or would an electronic download
work? There are much greater costs on your end to produce a physical
product than an electronic one, and you also have to deal with product
fulfillment as well if you choose to sell a physical product. I tell my
clients to start with an electronic version and test it out, and if it's
successful, move to a physical product, which has greater perceived
value in the eyes of consumers.
3. Pricing. Pricing of info products is all over the map.
Check out your competition (yes, there will be competing products on the
same topic aimed at the same target market) and see what they're
charging. You also need to take a look at your contact database and
make some assessments of the value of your information to them as well
as what you think they will pay. You can survey your database to
determine this info, or base it on comparable offerings in the
marketplace. Many times my clients get hung up on the notion of
comparing pricing for their info product to what they can find in the
local bookstore. Generally, pricing for info products is higher than
retail bookstores because the info being sold online is specialized for
a target market and is delivered immediately upon order (if it's an
electronic download).
The pricing strategy that also seems to sell better
online is ending your price with a 7, like in $17, $47, etc. If you
offer a high-priced product, consider offering payment via an
installment plan, where you charge a bit more each month for the product
than if someone were to pay for the product in full at time of purchase.
4. Technology. Do you have the technology in place to create
and deliver your offering? If it's an ebook, you'll need either a PDF
writer program or ebook compiler software. For an audio program you'll
need a microphone and audio recording and editing capabilities. For an
ecourse you'll need either autoresponder software or a direct to desktop
solution. For delivery you'll need a shopping cart that can deliver
electronic products or take shipping info for physical products as well
as some type of merchant account to take credit and process credit
cards. You'll also want a sequential autoresponder service to follow up
with your buyers.
5. Create the Product. This is typically the most labor
intensive part of the process, as you're actively recording or writing
or videotaping your information for the product. Some products are
easier to create than others, especially if you're recycling other
content that you have into a new product. If you're starting from
scratch, however, give yourself a full 3-6 weeks of steady work time for
product creation. After creating the product you may want to have it
proofread and/or edited in some fashion by a proofreader or an
audio/video expert.
6. Graphics. A picture tells a thousand words, and more
importantly, info products sell better when the visitor has a graphic
representation of this intangible info product item. If graphic design
isn't your specialty, find someone to design an ebook cover or podcast
album art for you. You may want to have the designer also create a
website header banner for the product that you can use on your sales
page. You can generally have both of these done for around $200. The
more professional your image, the better perceived value your product
has.
7. Domain, Hosting, and Website. I believe that each info
product should have its own domain name and sales page to be most
effective. Domain names are pretty inexpensive, so you could actually
buy several for each product -- one that reflects the product name, for
example, and one that reflects the result someone will receive after
using your product. You can use the various domain names and websites
for a variety of testing purposes as you go to sell your product. If
your plan to create multiple info products, you'll probably want to
obtain a website hosting account that will enable you to host multiple
domains from the same account. Another option is to forward your
product's domain name to a "hidden" page of your primary site.
8. Copywriting. There is a specific formula to copywriting for
one-pages sales letter websites. The best way to get ideas for your
sales letter is to create a Marketing Swipe file of other sales copy
that you like. From your swipe file take a look at the headlines, the
introduction, the subheadlines, the listing of benefits, the product
description, the outline of the features, the call to action (request to
buy), the closing, and the postscripts. You'll begin to see a pattern
emerge when you look at 4-5 sample sales pages.
9. Shopping Cart. Once your product is complete, you need to
upload the product into your shopping cart and set up the cart for
purchases. This may mean that you also need to set up shipping and
handling charges for physical products and integrate your shopping with
your shipper of choice. If your state requires the collection of state
sales taxes, you'll need to integrate that as well.
10. Followup Autoresponders. Creating a series of
autoresponders to follow-up with a customer after purchase enables you
to stay in front of the customer and reminder her about your other
product/service offerings. Design a series of 3-5 autoresponders that
will be sent out after a purchase to check in with your customer and
tell her the next step she needs to take after her purchase. This might
mean referring her to another info product, asking her to join some type
of subscription service, or experiencing your service with a free trial.
11. Capturing Contact Info. Sadly, not everyone who visits your
website will buy what you're selling. However, you can still capture
their contact info by creating a free giveaway for those who may not be
ready to buy. This might be a special report or free ecourse, and you
follow the same steps outlined previously for creating this giveaway.
You'll also need to create 3-5 followup autoresponders here as well that
will ultimately offer them your product once again.
12. Publish and Promote. Now, you're ready to sell. Publish
your website and begin to promote your offering to your own database.
You can create a buzz about your product by writing a press release,
offering a free teleclass, buying ads on other websites or in other
newsletters, publishing articles, creating podcasts, purchasing
pay-per-click advertising, requesting colleagues to send out notices to
their contact lists, and creating an affiliate program in which others
can sell your product for a commission.
Creating your first info product can be a time-consuming process.
However, once it's created, you stand to earn income from it for years
to come. Start to expand your business offerings today with information
products.
(c) 2009 Donna Gunter
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Online Business Coach
Donna Gunter helps baby boomers create profitable online retirement businesses
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