Post: #1

What's the smart thinking on info products these days?

A few years ago, you mention passive income and a popular business model was the 1-page sales letter, the $47 ebook, and buying traffic through Google Adwords.

I've had an awesome idea for an info-product that I'd write myself. It "solves my own problem", is a great value proposition (i.e. generates alot more value for the buyer than it costs) and Im nearly certain there's plenty of other people who would be interested, if I could get it in front of them.

However I know things have changed since 2006 with selling online. I know various smart online-biz types would say that just selling ebooks without a "warmed up", trusting audience is a pretty poor proposition - Info prods are best used when you have an audience of a couple of years that you have trust and credibility with, that you have a list to market to, that you can ask for input as you develop the product to laser-target exactly what they want, etc etc.

Also the idea that people dont buy ebooks for $50+ any more, and courses or "guides" at higher price points are more lucrative.

What do y'all internet marketers think?

I guess it'd take me maybe 3-4 weeks to write (optimistic, perhaps alot more), and then some figuring out of basic adwords/facebook marketing.

Id enjoy writing it and I can do the sales copywriting. I would be happy to do it in a way where a blog is an easy byproduct. If it takes a few months to build something of an audience via a blog before I can make some good money selling it, I guess I'd be OK with that.

Just wondering whether this is a good proposition or not in 2012, or whether info-products are a losing bet and I'm better off directing my energies to a higher ticket service or product that doesnt require a pre-gathered audience, just a solid offer and advertising.

Post: #2

Richie, I am not exactly sure what you're asking but I do have some comments based on what you posted.

Disclaimer: I don't do info products but software products. Not really much of a difference when it comes to setting up your sales funnels.

Info products will never be a losing bet. People have been paying for info far longer then the internet has been in existence. They will continue to do so as long as information is available to them.

I am not sure what you mean by having an audience of a couple of years. Do you mean existing audience? Sure, it is easier to sell to customers since they already know and trust you. That is if you delivered what you promised on other products.

If you mean by blogging and creating a fan base then that would make it easier to sell as well. It isn't necessary and I wouldn't recommend going that route. I would start selling immediately. If you did your research correctly, people will buy.

Paid traffic to a $47 ebook is normally a loss leader. Meaning, people lose money on initial product offer because they have a product line. That is why you should concentrate on large markets. You not only want many new people coming into the market every day but also being able to create multiple products for them.

I would start off with a generic product that targets the larger market. Then you can diversify into more specific products that allow you to segment those customers into smaller groups.

Ideally, you would want to create products with a long shelf life. Creating a how to product for a specific social site will be short term. You can make a lot of money doing that but the info can be out of date quickly.

Always have high priced items in your product line.

Post: #3

The biggest mistake people make is thinking that by building an audience up, then they'll have a better chance of their product selling is bull shit now a days. If you have people who are generally interested in your product and you seem like you know what you're talking about, then they will buy it. It's that simple..

Btw people still buy those 40$ ebooks and those 100$+ a month courses, but ask yourself is your product really worth over 50$? What makes it so special that people are going to be willing to buy it?

Post: #4

Havent really studied product creation yet but the way to go seems to be build a list, find out what they want and THEN build an info product according on their needs.

Post: #5

I hope the experts jump in on this, but here's what i've learned in trying to do the same.

Assuming you have a site up, and you have good product
- you need great sales copy on your site.
- you need to drive traffic to your site
- traffic + good copy = conversions = money

1) you can pay for google ads/some other ad network - the most expensive route, but probably the one where you have the most control over.

2) you can do "solo ads" - essentially find someone in your niche with a list, talk to them, and they use their credibility to blast their list with your product (flat fee, %..whatever you negotiate)

3) Search Engine Optimization - both on page (high quality content, page set up right) and off page (back links)

4) do a joint venture with an established im'er (there are jv partnership websites, plus you got black hat and warrior forum), and make it a click bank/affiliate product - and let the affiliates do the work of promoting it, provided that you give them a serious profit motive (50-100% commission)

- two step/DIY

a) break up your info product into basic and advanced. Give about 40% of the good content in product 1 (basic) away in the form of an e-book. Your target market opts in to your list, and through your list, you sell the other 60% of product 2 (advanced) @ your mark up.

I'm sorry I missed out on the good old days.

(11-15-2012 08:54 AM)RichieP Wrote:  What's the smart thinking on info products these days?

A few years ago, you mention passive income and a popular business model was the 1-page sales letter, the $47 ebook, and buying traffic through Google Adwords.

I've had an awesome idea for an info-product that I'd write myself. It "solves my own problem", is a great value proposition (i.e. generates alot more value for the buyer than it costs) and Im nearly certain there's plenty of other people who would be interested, if I could get it in front of them.

However I know things have changed since 2006 with selling online. I know various smart online-biz types would say that just selling ebooks without a "warmed up", trusting audience is a pretty poor proposition - Info prods are best used when you have an audience of a couple of years that you have trust and credibility with, that you have a list to market to, that you can ask for input as you develop the product to laser-target exactly what they want, etc etc.

Also the idea that people dont buy ebooks for $50+ any more, and courses or "guides" at higher price points are more lucrative.

What do y'all internet marketers think?

I guess it'd take me maybe 3-4 weeks to write (optimistic, perhaps alot more), and then some figuring out of basic adwords/facebook marketing.

Id enjoy writing it and I can do the sales copywriting. I would be happy to do it in a way where a blog is an easy byproduct. If it takes a few months to build something of an audience via a blog before I can make some good money selling it, I guess I'd be OK with that.

Just wondering whether this is a good proposition or not in 2012, or whether info-products are a losing bet and I'm better off directing my energies to a higher ticket service or product that doesnt require a pre-gathered audience, just a solid offer and advertising.