041: Passive Income from Information Products: The Lies and The Truth [Podcast]

Passive income from information products is history. Or, as Jerry (a devoted listener) put it “In a world where the value of information appears to be in rapid decline due [to] the sheer volume of web-based information and the extent to which such information is free on the internet, what is the present viability of sharing information via the internet to make money as a business start-up?” In this episode I will address this and two other common questions and/or objections about information marketing. I will walk you through each of these objections, demonstrating how each one is a lie because these are the lies we hear from others as well as from ourselves.

Photo courtesy of Flickr/Creative Commons/rossgram[/featured-image]

 

In past episodes I have encouraged you to do two things to help you take control of your income and your career.

1. Five Steps to Becoming a Paid Authority

2. Why You Need to Start Your Own Business Now

 

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Topic of the Week: Passive Income from Information Products: The Lies and The Truth

While on the surface information products seem easy to do and viable, I find people start to balk as they begin the process of creating their first information product. In particular, there are three major objections. I will address each here as a lie, because these are the lies we hear from others as well as from ourselves.

Lie #1: The Internet has made everything free, so information products are a dying industry. 

This is the lie Jerry had heard (or thought) when he wrote “In a world where the value of information appears to be in rapid decline due [to] the sheer volume of web-based information and the extent to which such information is free on the internet, what is the present viability of sharing information via the internet to make money as a business start-up?”.

There are three issues with this lie:

1. Value – Just having content online does not make it valuable. Value is created when it means something to me, the reader.
2. Convenience – Searching the web for information can be very time consuming. While this is OK for many people since they feel they have time to kill, many others would rather find a resource, an authority, that has the information they need in an easy to read, and easy to find, format.
3. Experience – The experiences you have (your personal story) are important. I am more inclined to buy from people who have been like me than someone who has studied years on the subject. I can relate to you if you are like me.

 

Lie #2: It takes special talents or skills that I don’t have to create products. 

Here I will focus on the topic of the product only, not the production. Many believe you need to have a Ph.D., fifty years of experience, or some other tangible indicator of knowledge. Fact if, you do not. Many people have weight loss programs who are not medical doctors, exercise therapists, or nutritionists. I have seen products (that do very well) about how to live with and overcome diabetes from people who had diabetes. Instead of talking from a doctor’s perspective, they were talking from real people perspective.

But perhaps I have misled you a bit. It DOES take special talents and skills. I just know that you in fact have some. I have no idea what they are, but you do. Think about these questions:

– What do others ask for your help with?

– What do others admire that you have done?

Look at these two examples and see if you can find their expertise.

Ana White

Jim Healthy

And then search on the following:

“How to ______” (you fill in the blank) and see how many products are on the market besides the free stuff. If you cannot find any in your area, let me know so I, too, can search!

 

Lie #3 — It takes a lot of money to create products that people will buy.

When I look at many of the products out there, I see high quality video, editing, audio, copyrighting, etc. Some of it looks easy – but it is not. Trust me, all of these skills are just that – skills. So yes, when you look at a product put out by Michael Hyatt, Pat Flynn, and PodcastAnswerman,  you can expect that they have a lot of experience and staff help.

But it does not have to be hard. Do not try to mimic what others have done who have staffs and money to spend. Instead, create something that offers your customer valuable how-to information. This should cost you tens of dollars instead of thousands of dollars. Can you spare $10?

More on this will be coming in Episode #42: How to create your First Information Product in 30 Days.

In the meantime, see Pat Flynn’s post on 5 Powerful Ways to Create Profitable Passive Income Products and Brian Clarks post 7 Steps to Creating and Selling a Niche Information Product.

 

Episode Resources

In this episode I mentioned some resources, including:

• 5 Powerful Ways to Create Profitable Passive Income Products by Pat Flynn
• 5 Amazing Benefits of Mastermind Groups for Entrepreneurs by Jonathan Milligan
• How to Make Your Goals Actually Happen My podcast episode #40.
• 7 Steps to Creating and Selling a Niche Information Product by Brian Clark at Copyblogger

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[reminder]Which lie do you have the most trouble overcoming?   [/reminder]