A few months ago, I received an email from one of my readers in response to an article I wrote.

She ran a website that sold second hand clothes, furniture, etc and in her email said,

"I can't sell information products in my kind of business. Your marketing doesn't make sense for me."

Maybe you feel the same way? Information products sound like a good idea. It would be great to have more ways to bring money into your business. But you aren't seeing how you can create, much less sell information products for the kind of business you run.

Like the subscriber who ran an online thrift store.

Information Products are Not Just for Gurus

It may seem to you that information products are strictly for guru-types who are well-known in their fields.

But I feel—strongly—that any business owner can benefit from creating and selling information products.

Example: Information Products for an Online Thrift Store

Let's start with how our web-based thrift store owner can create an information product or two that can bring some extra money into her business.

The owner, Lori, runs a business called Grandmas Treasures (www.grandmastreasures.com).* She sells vintage clothing, jewelry, dishes and serving pieces, etc. If she can lift it herself and put it in a box, she sells it.

(*Not person's or business's real name)

Although Lori's stock is eclectic, she's been collecting costume jewelry from the 1930's and 1940's since she was a kid. Over the years she has amassed a ton of information on how to spot fakes, which designs are most valuable, best sources, etc.

Lori could easily, with a little time and effort, write a 3-page article on vintage jewelry, Don't Get Taken: Ten Ways to Make Sure Your Vintage Jewels are the Real Thing. With some digital photos, a few good stories, and resource links, Lori has an information product she can sell on her website.

That's just one idea. I can think of several more.

How to Create an Information Product for Your Business in Four Easy Steps

This time we'll use a massage therapy business as an example.

Step 1. List the Questions Customers Frequently Ask You.

Types of questions Jack, our massage therapist might get include:

• How many sessions will I need?
• How long will it take before I start to feel better?
• Is there anything else I should be doing to get better faster?
• How is what you do different from a chiropractor?
• Can you help me with this kind of pain?
• Do you take insurance?
• Etc.

Each question has in it the seed for a potential information product.

Step 2. Looking at the List, in Which Questions is There the Greatest Desire for a Solution?

The more someone wants an answer, the more they are likely to value the answer. These questions are your best candidates for an information product customers will buy.

In the case of a massage therapist, prospects and clients are likely to be in physical pain and people in pain are motivated to make the pain go away. The question I especially like is:

Is there anything else I should be doing to get better faster?

An information product that helps the client get better results when they work with you means a more satisfied client, repeat business, and referrals.

Step 3. Answer the Question Using Any of the Following:

• Step by step instructions
• Tips for avoiding common mistakes, for improving results
• Stories illustrating how you help people
• Specific resources such as websites, books, organizations, and businesses

Our massage therapist creates a 12-page e-booklet called Ten Steps to a Pain Free Back.

In this booklet he covers ten actions he asks his clients to take to improve lower back pain and keep it from coming back. The steps address issues like posture, exercise, relaxation, and stress reduction to name just a few. He also includes a page of resources with links and phone numbers.

Step 4. Make Your Product Easy for Customers to Buy

Jack sells the booklet on his website for $12. Website visitors pay for the booklet by credit card or using Paypal. Then they download the booklet using a link Jack emails them.

What About Your Business?

You just learned how two different types of businesses can create information products their customers will buy.

How about your business? What information products could you be selling that serve more customers and add to your bottom line?

My friend, Dan owns a small software company that sells subscription services to realtors.

For a very reasonable monthly fee Dan will create a website that allows the realtor to upload guided tours of their listed properties. Prospective buyers can browse the listed properties and contact the realtor for more information on properties they're interested in.

It's a pretty cool service and once realtors start using it, they are very enthusiastic about the results. The problem was that although Dan was getting a lot of visitors to his website, very few visitors were taking the next step: a guided tour of how the service worked. 

Problem: Asking for Too Much Too Soon

Taking a look at their website, I could see what was happening: to take the guided tour the visitor had to provide their name and e mail address. Once the tour was over, prospect was told to call a 1-800 number to schedule a free consultation and discuss how the service would help them show more properties.

Here's the problem. In this age in which every other message seems to be to buy something, people have become wary of tactics like free consultations. The term "free consultation" is a red flag like "trust me." What the prospect really thinks is "they'll just try to talk me into buying something."

And let's face it, this is quite often the case.

Solution: Use Information Products as “Stepping Stones”

Picture a stream. A fairly wide, deep stream. You're on one side and your prospect is on the other. When the only offer you make is "Call me for a free consultation" with the intention to sell them something pricey, you are basically asking prospective customers to leap across the stream.

Will some prospects do that? Sure, every once in a while someone will be motivated and confident enough to make that big jump. Most, however, won't.

You need to provide them with 2-3 good, sturdy stepping stones they can use to cross the stream. The stepping stones are information products that provide increasing levels of support along with higher price points.

Example: Using Stepping Stone Products

I suggested to Dan that he add two intermediate offers that would allow prospects who weren't quite ready to buy the full service:

Product #1. A free, monthly ezine with articles on how customers were using their products and getting results.

When prospects read about someone like themselves succeeding, they would begin to feel more confident that they, too, could get good results.

Product #2. A $79 Assessment.

Through an online form, the prospect answers several questions and submits it for analysis.

They get a 5-page report back on exactly how the service would help them. If the service won't help them the fee is waived. If they decide to go ahead and subscribe the $79 is applied against the cost of their subscription.

Keys to Creating Stepping Stones for Your Customers

1. Make sure you're offering one free product that allows prospects to experience what you do. I prefer ezines or blog subscriptions because they provide multiple opportunities to be in touch over a period of time.
2. Add one to two intermediate information products. The products should:
• Provide increasing levels of support 
• Priced to reflect the increased level of support
3. Test the products to make sure they appeal to your ideal customer. I'm a big proponent of testing with ideal customers. Let a few of your customers try out your new product. If they are using it and getting good results, you have a winner. If they never touch it, you have some refinements to make.

Bottom Line

If you're getting a lot of interest in your product or service but very few are actually buying, you may need to use some information products as stepping stones.

I recommend offering 1-2 free products and at least 1 product you sell at a price lower than what you’re selling as “top of the line.”

This allows prospective clients to keep in touch with you and to benefit from your products and services even if they’re not ready to buy your top of the line offering.

P.S., What stepping stones do you offer to help prospects get closer to you? Click here to comment.

Last week I was attending a conference and mentioned to someone I help small business owners create information products. The other person was very friendly until I said "information products." Then the temperature in the room dropped about 10-degrees.

When I asked her why she seemed less than enthusiastic, she told me how disappointed she was with most of the information products she bought. In her experience, the products seemed like they were "just slapped together" and that "all the business owner seemed to care about was making money."

When people tell me this, I feel sad.

One reason I feel sad is because I've had the same experience. I buy an information product that seems to be what I need and what I get is a poorly written data dump. Even if there's useful information, I have to work so hard to figure out what it is and how to apply it, I give up in frustration.

The other reason I feel said is because it doesn't need to be this way.

Why Information Products Suck

You see, the reason these products suck is not so much because they're information dumps or even because they're poorly written. It's because they're missing the essential ingredient that customers want: connection with the business owner.

Usually, when I buy something from a small business, it's because there's something about the business owner that resonates with me. It may be their take on business, or their sense of humor, or their way of explaining something. When this happens I want to hang out with them and learn more. If they offer information products such as books, articles, podcasts, and so on, this is a great way for me to get my daily, weekly, or monthly dose.

When a small business owner slaps something together and calls it an information product without investing themselves in the product, they may be providing some helpful information but they're not providing customers with what they really want: a bit of themselves. When this happens, customers feel cheated.

How to Make Sure There's a Little Bit of You in Your Products

1. Tell a story

Stories also allow you to personalize your experience and knowledge and allow others to experience you as your customers do. There's nothing better than a story about how you used your experience, knowledge, and resources to illustrate how add value.

2. Be real

One of the greatest assets you have as a small business owner, is the human face you give your business. When you can be real which means revealing your quirks and imperfections, you give your client permission to trust and ask for help.

True story: the day I got permission to be myself 

When I returned to school to get my MBA, I felt overwhelmed and scared for the first few months. All the other first year students seemed to be doing well and I assumed there was something wrong with me feeling the way I did.

Lucky for me, I was in a class taken mostly by second year students. I remember one of them asking me how things were going.

"Oh, just great," I cheerfully lied, "everything is going really well."

"Really?" the second year student said. He was genuinely surprised. "Man, I hated my first year, especially the first semester. I almost dropped out." He then went on to say that as he got to know and trust the other students, the program got a lot easier.

Hearing this was a huge relief. It gave me permission to stop acting and start being myself. And when I started being myself, I began making friends with other students and actually enjoying school.

The point is, you don't need to be perfect and your information products don't need to be perfect either. If you struggled to learn what you're teaching, say so. If you make mistakes and typos, apologize, fix them, and move on.

3. Take a stand, even if it's controversial

A few years ago, I spoke to a group of local business owners about guerrilla marketing. I could tell the presentation didn't go well but I wasn't sure why.

Over coffee, I asked the woman who booked me, why the audience seemed "less than thrilled." She told me a few people complained that when they asked me questions I kept qualifying my answers with "this is just my opinion."

"We brought you in because you're an expert. We assume you're giving us your opinion based on your experience in the field," she said, "when you apologize it sounds like you don't know what you're doing"

It's scary to take a stand on an issue when you're a business owner because you worry about losing prospective customers who disagree. But you are also demonstrating leadership for those who do agree and are looking for someone willing to speak up.

There are issues in every industry that people have strong opinions on. If you sincerely have a position, and it's relevant within the context of your products, speak up and let your customers know where you stand and why.

4. Use your voice

You know when you read an article or listen to a podcast and you can just tell author is trying to be someone he or she thinks their customer wants them to be?

I'm not saying they sound bad. They just don't sound like themselves.

The best thing that ever happened to me was when I stopped trying to write like a Corporate Marketing Android and started writing the way I would if I were explaining something to a respected friend or colleague.

Bottom Line

It's not hard to create information products customers love. Provide a bite-sized solution to a problem that they can easily implement. And put a little of yourself into your product using stories, being human, taking a stand, and writing in a conversational tone.

One of my clients recently asked me whether she should charge for a series of tip sheets she created for families traveling with young children. Great question.

There's quite a bit of confusion around whether you should sell or give away your information products. About half the advice I hear favors giving information away for free. The other half favors charging. The truth is, sometimes you should give information and resources away and sometimes you should sell them. The real question is WHEN to charge and when not to. In this article, I'll give you some guidelines around when to charge or not to charge.

Start with What Your Business Needs Now

Asking where your business is at and what you need to be successful is a great place to begin.

Every business needs customers, right? So let's look at how strangers become your paying customers. They go through three stages:

Stage One: Visibility (V)
 
To become a customer a person first needs to know your product exists. You become visible by getting your product and marketing message in front of people who fit your target market description.

Stage Two: Credibility (C)
 
Knowing that your product exists is usually not enough to get someone to pay cold hard cash for it. Nope, they're thinking "well, that sounds good but how do I know it will really work?" During the Credibility stage you need to give them information that demonstrates your product will deliver as promised.

Stage Three: Profitability (P)
 
Once your prospect is convinced that your product will, indeed, deliver the promised value, they will pay you and become a customer.

V to C to P = Marketing Funnel 

Picture a funnel with lots of people coming in the widest part (visibility), a percentage sticking around to learn more (credibility), and a percentage of those who stick around becoming customers (profitability).

At any given time in the life of your business, there are people at different stages of becoming customers. Some are learning about you for the first time, some are checking you out to decide whether they will buy, and some are deciding to buy and paying you.

Ideally, you have a steady stream of people constantly entering and moving through the funnel. If they don't enter or don't continue through, you have a problem and it shows up in your bottom line: you don't have enough paying customers. I suggest you look at where you need the most customers as a way to decide whether or not to charge for your information product.

When to Give Away and When to Charge
 
When You Need More Visibility
 
If you're just starting your business or you want to enter a new market, you probably need more visibility. You need people to know your product exists.

When visibility is your goal, I recommend you give something away that provides value and introduces people to your product or service.

Why? The goal for visibility is to answer the following questions:

1. What is it ("it" being your product or service)

2. Does it help someone like me?

You want to give something away that will answer this question while asking for something minimal from the prospect. A common example is offering a free Ezine subscription or a free report your prospects can download in exchange for their E-mail address or phone number.

Think about supermarket samples. You taste a new product and get a coupon. If you like the product, you buy a package. Food companies are betting that enough people will like the product sampled to buy it at least once, or, even better, become repeat purchasers.

When You Need More Credibility
 
Credibility is an issue when you're getting a lot of first time visitors and inquiries but not enough are coming back. And for most products and services, people need repeated demonstrations of what you can do for them. They need to trust you.

When you are building credibility, I suggest you have two information products: one that is free and one that you sell.

1. A free product that allows you to build a relationship withyour prospects. Products like Ezines are great because you get a chance to connect with customers once a month or more.

2. Product you charge for which offers a higher level of customer value. Ideally, this is a "no brainer" purchase. Something for which the value is so obvious for what you're charging that most people don't need to think too long or hard about whether to buy.
Although you will be making some money, the real purpose is to demonstrate credibility and build trust.

Warning: The biggest complaint I hear is when someone offers a free report or one-hour teleclass that turns out to be little more than a sales pitch. Again, you are creating value and building trust. Doing both will enable you to convert more prospects to paying customers when the opportunity presents itself.

If You Need More Profitability
 
If you have a large, loyal base of readers, subscribers, or members who have been hanging out with you for several months and like what they're getting, some of them will want to invest some serious time and money for your focused time and attention.

For example, a consultant I know sends out a free monthly Ezine to her mailing list and sells low cost Tip Sheets, Checklists, and so on. Each month 3-5 of her subscribers contact her to learn more about her workshops and seminars costing $500+. She usually books 6 to 8 engagements this way each year.

She explained it to me like this, "I try to provide something useful that my readers can apply right away. For example, I sell a $5.00 meeting organizer they can use to have more productive meetings. Sometimes this is all they need."

"But sometimes they're in a situation that goes way beyond the DIY stage. They need someone from outside the company to step in and help them set up a new system or to help them hire a new executive."

Allowing your prospects to upgrade (or escalate) and get a higher level of support is not only profitable, it's how you can really serve your clients.

Bottom Line 

Whether or not to charge for your information products depends on what your business needs in terms of developing customer relationships. The less people in your target customer base know you, the more important it is to offer free or low cost information products providing something of value. As you build trust and as your prospects learn how you can help them, you can offer more expensive, higher commitment products for those who want (and can afford) them.

A lot of small business owners like the idea of creating information products. They like the benefits of creating passive revenue streams, demonstrating value, and establishing their expertise. But a lot never get past the idea of information products because they worry they'll need to learn all sorts of special technologies and buy expensive software to create one.

To do this, I want you to start thinking like the TV action hero, Angus MacGyver. In the TV show, Angus MacGyver (known to his friends as MacGyver or "Mac") who favored brain over brawn in order to solve desperate problems. MacGyver's main asset was his practical application of scientific knowledge and inventive use of common items. (Source: Wikipedia) Need to defuse an advanced nuclear weapon? No problem. MacGyver did it with a paper clip. Worried about that sulfuric acid leak? Give MacGyver a chocolate bar and he'll plug it. Need to read teeny tiny secret spy notes? MacGyver created a magnifying devise using a hair clip and a few drops of liquid.

Your Information Product Toolkit

Now I know it's highly unlikely that you will ever be in a situation in which you need to defuse an advanced nuclear weapon much less with a paper clip. What I want you to take away is the idea that with a little know-how and resourcefulness, you already have the tools you need to create a good information product. MacGyver's basic tool kit was duct tape and a Swiss army knife plus whatever was lying around. What about a tool kit for the small business owner who wants to create information products? Here's my list:

1. Own or have access to a personal computer.
2. A word processing program like Microsoft Word or OpenOffice (free)
3. (Optional) A digital recorder like the Olympus VN-4100PC
which retails for less than $50.

Most if not all of you reading this have #1 and #2. You can get by without #3, the digital recorder but it's very useful and I'll say more about that in a moment.

Six Information Product Ideas MacGyver Would Approve Of 

Okay, so let's say, you hire MacGyver and you say, "Mac, I want an information product, fast, and all I have is my 3-year old Dell computer, a copy of OpenOffice, and a friend with a digital recorder. Can you help me?"  Here are six information products that you have all the tools and know-how you need to get going:

If your presentation was accompanied by clear, user-friendly slides, I encourage you to use those as information products as well. Even better, bundle the slides with the audio recording and make both available.

Note: Not a big deal if you don't own software to create presentations such as Microsoft PowerPoint. There are free options you can use such as OpenOffice Impress and Google Docs.

3. Write How To’s And Tip Sheets

Very few people will pay for a 500-word tip sheet. However, people will pay $10 and up if you take 20 such tip sheets on related topics, create a table of contents, and put them together in an e-book.

This is when having a digital recorder comes in handy.  Anything you can record: a presentation, an interview, a class; even reading a written article out loud, can be transferred to your computer and distributed on the Internet.
Important: If other people are involved (for instance, you're taping a workshop), let them know upfront that you will be recording. This is especially important if you intend to sell the resulting product.

6. Interview Other Experts Whose Work Complements Yours

No small business is an island. We all depend to a greater or lesser extent on the talents of others to stay in business. As a marketing consultant I need the services of an accountant, graphic designer, Web and blog designer, a PR expert, and a printer, just to name a few. What types of questions do you ask these folks? Do you think others in your profession might be interested in the answers? Yes, probably. I recommend recording your interview so you have the complete conversation. You can then write a question and answer article on the parts that are most relevant to your audience.

Bottom Line
 
You don't need to be a technical wiz to create information products. Nor do you need to buy expensive software or hire a film editor. You just need to think like MacGyver; have the basic tools, know how to use them, and think creatively.

True Story: the $50 Challenge

Dana was a client of mine who was working with me to fund a non-profit she was starting: a private school for local at-risk kids. She had years of experience working with these kids as an elementary school teacher and was confident she could help. But raising money to fund her new school was very intimidating.  One day we were talking about the idea of creating and selling information products to help her fund her school. She loved the idea of selling information products but balked at the idea of selling ones she created. Why? Because she was "just" a school teacher. She didn't have a Ph.D. in her field. She hadn't written any important papers that were published in scholarly journals. Why in the world would anyone want to hear what she had to say, let alone PAY to hear it.

I was interested because getting my own first grader to pick up after himself was a constant struggle. I felt like I had tried everything; nagging, bribes, and threats.  Nothing worked. "Dana," I said, "If you could teach me how to teach my son to clean up after himself, that would easily be worth $50 to me."  My offer amazed Dana. She never imagined that anyone would value something that, to her, was so ordinary.  She took me up on it and wrote a great article on training kids to pick up after themselves. I still apply her advice now and then when my son, now eleven, forgets to tidy up. Dana got $50 which she applied as a donation to her new school (now the Park Hill Preparatory School in Denver, Colorado).

The Lesson Learned

Like Dana, most of us know how to do things that are almost second nature TO US. And that's the problem. When you're good at something and have been doing it for a long time, there's a tendency to devalue it. We assume that it's easy for us so isn't it easy for everyone else?

I had been doing everything I could think of to get my son to clean up after himself and it wasn't working. Dana had spent years with kids and through her own training plus lots of trial and error she had developed a simple, straightforward process for teaching kids to take responsibility for keeping their classroom clean.  A neater, more peaceful home was worth at least $50 to me.  

3 Steps to Developing an Information Product (Even if You're Not a Famous Expert)

I'm willing to bet there's a $50 information product in you.  Maybe more than one.  Try this:

Step #1

Your list items can be related to your current business but it's not a requirement. Please don't get stuck because you can't think of anything grand you accomplished in your business this year. Jot down what comes to mind.

Step #2

Pick one item on your list that you enjoyed doing and that you're pretty sure you could teach someone else to do.

Step #3

Ta-DAH! You have an information product

Is it rough around the edges? Yes, probably. Are you going to put it out to the marketplace? Probably not.  But that's not the point. The point is you don't need to be an acclaimed expert to know something others value.

A Little Challenge

If you're a small business owner and you've been thinking about the idea of creating an information product but haven't taken action because your abilities are too humble, here's a little challenge:

1. Complete steps 1 – 3 to create your info product (your "how to" story) 2. E-mail me your story to judy@judymurdoch.com with INFO PRODUCT in the Subject line.  The first five people to E-mail me their info product story by Monday, January 7 will receive a free assessment from me on their info product's potential value.

Bottom Line

The main requirement to create an information product is experience doing something others would like to learn. If you own a small business, I have no doubt that you have at least two or three valuable information products based on your experience, know-how, and knowledge.

What do you know that others would gladly pay you to learn?

I have a client who earns six figures through his consulting practice. It's enough for him and his retired wife to live very nicely.

Still he sweats it out every month. A canceled engagement is a real threat to his income. He doesn't take vacations and prays that he won't have to take any sick days.

Because if he doesn't work, he doesn't get paid. It's that simple.

Can you relate?

Do You REALLY Want to Work Forever? 

I know some folks, my client included, who LOVE what they do for a living. Most small business owners choose to go into business for themselves because it allows them to make money doing what they enjoy.  They tell me that they will happily work until they have one foot in the grave. Maybe they will. But you know what? I think it would be nice not to HAVE to.

Creating Sources of Passive Revenue

Passive revenue is revenue that doesn't depend on your active participation. The money comes in whether you're taking a nap, lying on a beach in Waikiki, or recovering from the flu. As a business owner, one of the best ways to earn passive revenue is to create information products.

The Beauty of Information Products

An information product is simply a product that makes what you know available to others. What is beautiful about information products is this:

You create the product once. Then people buy copies.

For example, I have a client who loves to travel with her kids. She has great ideas for parents who want to take their kids on overseas trips but feel intimidated and worried trying to do it themselves.  She has started writing "tip sheets"; one to two-page "how to" articles that tell parents how to avoid common problems that come up when traveling abroad with children. Sherry sells her tip sheets for $2 apiece from her Web site.
The point is, Sherry writes her tip sheet, usually based on her own experiences traveling with her daughters, makes the article available on her Web site so folks can buy it and she's done. She can now sell hundreds of copies and her presence is not required.

But, but, but…

A lot of business owners I talk with are very intrigued by the idea of developing information products for their business. They absolutely "get" the advantages. But they have lots of concerns and objections. They worry because they aren't a "real expert" so why would someone pay money for their humble knowledge.

They worry that they're not good at writing or speaking.

They worry that they need to hire a big production team to produce books, audio tapes, and such.

They are so overwhelmed with how to get started that they never get going.

And this is a terrible pity because as long as all their knowledge, experience, and unique perspective remain locked inside, very few people will ever benefit.

The public doesn't benefit because they can't access information that could make a real difference in their personal and professional lives. The owner doesn't benefit because they aren't earning anything on what is essentially an asset with revenue earning potential.

Bottom Line

The more I talk to business owners and professional service providers the more apparent it becomes to me that:

1. There are a lot of talented folks who have a lot of valuable experience, information, and know-how and only a fraction of their target prospects have access.

2. Their revenue is almost entirely dependent on what they bill on an hourly or monthly basis and no matter how much they love what they do, they would like the ability to choose who they work for, what projects they take on, and so on.

3. They are interested in information products, perhaps have even written some articles, or given presentations but they haven't done anything to turn those materials into something that generates revenue.

I want to change this because no one is benefiting when what you can do is a secret.

To be continued…