Information Products: The Key to the Success

An information product that adds value to people’s lives is the best tool for creating word of mouth. When you offer real solutions to real problems, satisfied customers will want to tell the world about you.

And to make it even more powerful, give it away! Saying that often evokes a response like a shudder, or a gasp, or someone saying, “Oh no! I could never give something away for free like that – it is my best stuff!” Well, the truth be told is that something you should give things away and other times your products or services should be available only after being paid for.

In the case of information products, regardless of if you charge for them or give them away, you need to have one. In many cases, you need to have several. Information Products will be come the lifeblood of your business.

Here is what Michael Port has said about information products:

Creating a product or program is a powerful—and possibly necessary—step in your business development. When you do so your business has the potential to skyrocket. —Michael Port

The best way to start a viral marketing campaign is to share your knowledge and expertise with prospects and customers.

As a marketer, you know that the key to your business success is the ability to build a list of customers and potential customers who look forward to hearing about your new product releases and special offers through e-mail announcements. And you know that successful list-building depends on your ability to build a bond of trust with prospects and customers.

You already have a powerful list-building tool right in your own hands—literally. Whether you type on a keyboard, talk to your voice recognition software, or grind it out the hard way with a pencil and paper, you are the best tool you will ever have for building a list.

A lead-generating information product is one that you give away in exchange for an e-mail address and permission to follow up. A lead-generating product is the easiest, fastest, and most effective tool for creating a connection with potential clients. As you build trust with potential customers, you will soon reach the point in the sales cycle where prospects are ready to buy your products or services.

Your information product is often the most powerful tool in the sales cycle. Readers will brand you on the basis of what you offer them in exchange for their e-mail address and permission to follow up. Creating an information product is the easiest and fastest way to establish yourself as an expert, build your brand, and win the trust of customers and potential customers.

A free offer of something valuable turns visitors into friends. When you follow up by continuing to add something of value to people’s lives, you establish the kind of rapport and trust that turns friends into clients. And when you cultivate client relationships by keeping in touch, offering new solutions, and creating additional benefits, you turn customers into clients for life.

The best time to build your database is now

Do not wait for a change of environment before you act; get a change of environment by action.
–Wallace D. Wattles

The best way to build your database is by offering an information product designed to generate leads. Find a product idea you’re enthusiastic about. If you can tie it into your current business model, you have the topic for a great information product.

When you give first-time visitors a free information product in exchange for their e-mail address, you take the first step toward establishing yourself as an expert. And when visitors give you permission to follow up, you start to build a bond of trust.

If you’ve already written something, think about how you can leverage it to create additional information products. An article might contain the seed for an eBook. A series of articles or reports can be reworked and presented as an eCourse or a series of Web seminars.

If you’ve never written anything for publication on the Internet before, start by asking yourself how you can package what you know or do. What are you passionate about? How have you helped people in the past? Ask family and friends for their honest feedback.

Do you have a hobby that’s related to a product or service that you would like to market? A sport or other pursuit that you’re passionate about can be a great place to start.

Be sure you know what your vision is. When you find products and services that you can market and sell with enthusiasm, you won’t have any trouble writing about them with passion and conviction.