Having your own info product is intimidating. You may question your expertise or think no one would buy an eBook from you – but you’re probably wrong on all counts.
Print publications are slowly going the way of the dinosaurs – toward extinction. More people get their news and information online, or via their mobile electronic devices, such as iPads, smart phones, and ereaders.
This is bad news for media companies based in print, but it’s wonderful news for people who can now self publish their creations without having to go through the grueling process of traditional publishing houses.
An info product can be created and sold on your own site, or you can put it on Amazon for print order (they’ll print it on demand each time it’s ordered). It can also be housed and available for Kindle readers.
So we’re going to go over the main steps you’ll need to know. You can dig down deeper into it if you decide this is a business model you want to pursue. But try not to neglect info product publishing forever – because it really enhances your authority.
Pick a Niche
First of all, I don’t want you to think that old rule, “write what you know” applies here. The marketers creating their own info products often pick a niche they know nothing about – because you’re going to be doing the readers a service as you create this guide.
Your lack of knowledge is sometimes a boost. If you know nothing about a topic, it means you (or your ghostwriter) will be digging into research – and your creation can be more up to date than someone set in his or her way of thinking about the topic.
So what niche do you write about? It helps to brainstorm a little bit. Start by doing the following and jot down a list that are possible niche topics for you:
· Go to ClickBank.com and view the marketplace to see what others are selling.
· Go to PayDotCom.com and do the same.
· Go to BN.com to see what non-fiction books are out there.
· Do the same at Amazon.com.
· Look at various PLR stores to see what PLR topics are being produced (and if they show how many remain available, which ones are selling out).
· Off the top of your head, list a few topics you already feel that you know more than someone who knows NOTHING about it does.
· List some topics you WANT to know about, but don’t know a thing about.
Narrow it down until you have a good niche topic you feel inspired about. Remember, you’re going to be attached to this for a LONG time, creating a LOT of content for it – so don’t choose something you think you’ll burn out on quickly and easily.
Do Some Keyword Research
Now sometimes you’ll think of a niche and you feel it’s something everyone will want to know. But when you conduct your keyword research, you come to realize that no one is searching for information on that topic.
Keyword research shows you search volume. If there are zero searches, or too few, then it won’t be worth pursuing this niche.
Go to your free Google keyword tool. Or, buy a paid keyword tool that will give you more detailed data if you have the funds available. Type in the broadest keyword or phrase you can think of for your niche.
For example, let’s use “wedding planning” as your niche – the keyword you use might be “wedding” since it’s the broadest one available. Type it without quotes and conduct a search.
Order the results for Global Monthly Searches from most to least. Start reviewing the keyword list to see what all people want to know about your topic. With wedding planning, my list might look like this:
· Attire
· Invitations
· Locations
· Rings
· Pictures
· Cakes
· Receptions
· Bands
· Favors
And the list could go on for miles. But this quick list shows you the topics you’ll need to have inside of your own info product. Then you organize the topics that flow logically in order and create your content from there!
Draft an Outline
It’s best to work with an outline. You can have a chapter, and then create sub-headings – sort of like I’m using inside this very guide. Feel free to put as many levels in your outline draft as you want to – but you can have nothing more than the main chapter headings if you prefer, too.
Let’s use an example from above. Let’s take Cakes as our example. Your chapter heading might be this:
“Wedding Cake Planning for the Bride and Groom”
You could have subtitles easily created just by going to your keyword tool again and looking up wedding cake to see what shows up. Make a list for subheadings like this:
· Toppers
· Stands
· Photos
· Designs
· Bakery
· Price
Then take that list and do another keyword search – let’s look up the wedding cake topper for our next list and we get this:
· Funny
· Custom
· Monogram
· Beach
· Cheap
· Military
· Firefighter
· Crystal
· Western
· Make your own
When I saw this list, what I could do is group the items. So I might have a sub-section in this chapter about wedding cake toppers – and then separate the information into themes (where military and western might go), materials (where make your own and crystal might go), and custom (where monogram might be).
Keyword tools do a lot of the research work for you. You just have to dig down deeper and deeper and look at what the consumer’s demands are.
Create the Product, Your eBook
This is where many would-be marketers freeze like a deer in headlights. You don’t have to be scared. Let me take the pressure off of you – this info product creation stuff?
It can all be edited.
So if Joe Doe emails to tell you that you’re the worst writer he’s ever read because on page 13 of your eBook, you botched the spelling of a simple word – you just open up that Word doc, edit it, reformat it into a PDF and upload it.
Nothing’s set in stone with this eBook stuff, so don’t sweat it! Plus, I guarantee there are many other writers who are worse than you out there cranking out eBooks and making sales from them.
How long does your info product need to be? As long as it needs to be! Don’t shoot for a blanket 50 pages or 100 pages. Just write until you’ve exhausted the information and you’re sure your readers will be impressed and convinced they’re not left with unanswered questions.
If necessary, you can outsource the product creation to a ghostwriter – but always double check the content inside to make sure they didn’t steal it from someone else.
Turn Your eBook Into a PDF
You want to turn your document into a PDF file. This is the usual format for your info product. I also want to mention here that you don’t have to create a text-based product at ALL!
In fact, if you want to use audio or video, go for it! But most people still use PDF content for info products, so that’s where you can start the easy way.
You can use Adobe – either bought for your desktop or the online service version – to turn your Word document into a PDF file. Once it’s converted, download it to your computer in a file where you know where it is.
Zip and Host It
Right click on your PDF file and choose “send to zip.” Then log into your hosting account (Hostgator is a common one) and upload it in a product called something like 83756Products3862 so that hackers can’t easily find your download area.
Put It on a Mini Site - How to make a website for online marketing
Minisites are little one page websites that house a sales letter on them. They’re designed with a header (the block at the top of your screen), a footer (located at the bottom), a background, a testimonial box, an eCover image, and an order button!
Look at almost any of the ClickBank marketplace products and you’ll see what a minisite looks like.
You can create these yourself, but if you’re not good at graphics, then the person who lands there might view you as unprofessional.
Minisites can range in cost from $100 packages to thousands of dollars. You can also go to Elance.com as a buyer and post a project and browse portfolios of designers to see if you can get something more in line with your budget.
Put It on Other Ordering Hot Spots
You’re not restricted to your own minisite when selling your info product. Make sure you use Createspace to put it in the Amazon.com book section and add it onto their Kindle area, too!
