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One of the fastest and easiest ways to make a living online is to go into the info
products business.  Do NOT listen to those gurus who say time and time again
that the market is saturated.  And, that the internet just can't handle another info
product entrepreneur (info preneuer).  Guess what?  They're wrong! 

Why would I say this? 

The reason that people are on the internet in the first place is because they are
hungry for information. Everyone wants information!  Do you remember that
movie a few years back about a robot?  I think it was "Batteries Not Included". 
The little robot got his battery working again and all of a sudden started running
around some big city saying "Input, Input".  Well, picture the surfers on the
internet as that little robot.  They're all running around from site to site saying
"Info, Info!" 

These same people are more than willing to pay money for the information.  After
all, they routinely purchase magazines, newspapers, and print books, right?  On
the internet, they're even more willing to part with a few dollars if it will save them
time or solve a problem for them.  The secret is to make sure that the
information that you provide either saves them time or benefits them
in some other, emotional way. 

On the internet, there is a lot of money that can be made by selling information to
people.  The way to do this is through ebooks.  An ebook is nothing more than a
book in a digital format.  Sure, it can have pictures - but so can a real book. 

The important part of having an ebook as opposed to a hard copy book is that the
ebook can save the reader even more time than the hard book.  This is because
the ebook can incorporate audio, video, and hyperlinks to additional, pertinent
information.

Most of the internet "gurus" have made their money by selling information online,
in one format or another.  Now it's your turn to take a share of the internet profit
pie.  You can do this by creating your own information product (ebook).

“Niche Marketing”

Many Internet Marketers have made small fortunes out of selling "niche content". 
A "niche" is a focused market segment.  For example, there is the self help niche. 
Almost any topic can be a "niche" as long as there is a targeted market of people
in that niche.

Those Internet Marketers that have made a ton of money selling niche content.
are selling to the "online business niche". In other words, they’re selling to other
internet marketers.  (Although I wouldn't necessarily call that market segment a
"niche" as it is really not focused very well.)  

Those selling niche content to the internet marketers are making life easy for the
new online business owner as the new business owner doesn't even have to
create an info product.  The only problem with that is that at any point in time, at
least a hundred other people buy the same products, follow the same steps, and
eventually, setup the same type of websites.

The end result? Nothing happens. Apart from a few early success stories, sales
happen at a trickle, and people are left wondering why they bought something
that an Internet Marketer thought was better to sell rather than profit from it on his
own.

Don’t get me wrong. I quite enjoy the ease that pre-packaged niche content gives
to starting an online business. The only problem is that if you don’t KNOW how to
pick the right niche, you won’t ever be able to strike a fortune.

Quick Fact: Every single Internet Marketer has at least one niche business that
is doing amazingly well. 

How do they do this?  They pick the right niche!  Examples of some niches that
could be profitable are the poker niche, the wedding invitation niche, the debt
reduction niche, etc.

Aren't you seeking the same sort of success?

There are, as always, several solutions.  One of the most profitable, though, is to
create your own info products, and combine them with other people's products for
maximum profitability. 

RESPECT + CREDIBILITY = HAPPIER CUSTOMERS & HIGHER PROFITS

When creating products for profit, think about the questions posed by Randy
Charack in Chapter 2 of "The E-Code: 33 Internet Superstars Reveal 43 Ways to
Make Money Online Almost Instantly---Using Only Email" by Joe Vitale.

"Would you rather pay a little more money and get a lot more? or
pay a little less and get a lot less?"

He goes on to explain:

"If the product you are considering buying is designed to make you
more money, and you will make a lot more money because of the
built-in extras and the added bonuses, you will be happy to pay a
little bit more.  Right?"

The idea here is based on the following equation:

RESPECT + CREDIBILITY = HAPPIER CUSTOMERS & HIGHER
PROFITS

The easiest way to illustrate this is with a few examples.  Consider the following:

Digital Product A

An ebook consisting of a 10 page .exe file (this can only run on a
Windows PC and cannot be printed)

Looks like good information with a short sales letter

Product sells for $27

Digital Product B

An ebook consisting of a 10 page .PDF file (this can be run on
Windows PCs and Mac's)

2 additional ebooks illustrating points made in the ebook (value
over $100)

2 pieces of software that can be used to implement the ideas in the
ebook (value over $100)

Looks like good information with an acceptable sales letter, and
pictures of the bonuses

Product sells for $47

Which product would you rather purchase?  Even if the ebooks are identical,
Digital Product B will likely sell a lot more copies, even though the price is higher,
because of the perceived value.  You are showing your readers respect by
providing them time saving extras!  You are also saving them money as well. 

Of course, your site will also need to establish your credibility by providing
testimonials and backing up your major claims, but you would have done this with
either product.  By adding the element of "Respect" for your customers, you make
them happier and earn yourself higher profits in return!

So, how can you apply the equation to your own info products?  Well, when
deciding what product to create and what content to include in the product,
remember to show your reader "Respect". 

Also remember that you need to add "Credibility" to the equation by providing a
sound basis for your assertions in your ebook.  You will also want to establish
"Credibility" through your presentation of the ebook itself as well as through your
website.  Provide testimonials; back up your claims, etc.  When you put Respect
and Credibility together, you will have a Happier Customer, and that will provide
you with Higher Profitability.

There are a number of ways that you can make money providing information to
people online. One of the most profitable ways to do that is to create your own
info product and to maximize it’s profitability by combining it with other people’s
products.

Ways of Selling Info Products Online

There are several different methods that you can follow when finding products to
sell online:

1.  You can develop (or have others develop for you) the info products you are
going to sell; or

2.  You can purchase private label rights to products developed by others and
modify them to sell as your own; or

3.  You can locate info products in the public domain (more on this later) and
package them for resale; or

4.  You can locate info products already created by others and purchase resale or
master resale; or

5.  You can locate info products created by other people and sell them through
affiliate programs.

Actually, my preferred method combines several of these models.  But, let's not
get ahead of ourselves right now. When you are just starting out, one of your
biggest obstacles will be to stay focused.  For this reason, you will want to pick
only one model and follow it as closely as possible, at least in the beginning. 
Later on, you can try your hand at mixing up the methods to really maximize your
profits!

One way of making money online is by publishing your own info products.  Now,
the way in which you accomplish this can be through items 1, 2 or 3 above.  But,
you can drastically change the profitability of your own info product by adding in
components from item 4 or 5 above. 

To create your own product, you must first start with a topic.  This should be the
fun part of product creation.  How do you choose a topic?  That’s easy!  First find
a hungry group of buyers and then find a topic that either solves a problem they
have or benefits them in some way.

Until you are certain that you have a HUNGRY group of buyers who HAVE
MONEY and are interested in either solving a problem or who see a benefit in
your product, don’t even consider moving forward with your info product.

The Importance of Finding Your Market: How and Why You Absolutely MUST Research Your Market FIRST

To create your own product, you must first start with a topic.  This should be the
fun part of product creation.  How do you choose a topic?  That’s easy!  First find
a hungry group of buyers and then find a topic that either solves a problem they
have or benefits them in some way.

Many info product creators will just start creating a product on a given topic, and
then, when the product is finished, they will look for buyers.  Well, I'm here to tell
you that this is the wrong way of approaching info product creation.

Wouldn't you be better off if you created a product specifically for an information
hungry audience?  Even better, create a product for an audience hungry for
information who has money!  That way, you would know that the buyers existed,
even before you put all that time into creating your info product.

If you approach the creation of your info product using this method, you will
GREATLY enhance the success of your product!  By "success" I mean two
things:  the profitability of your product as well as the name recognition of you as
the creator.

Let look at two examples:

Example 1

I know quite a bit about a specific subject.  I decide to write an
ebook that focuses on the subject.  So, I spend a few days to a few
weeks putting all of my knowledge into an ebook.  When I'm done, I
decide to start working on my website.  Now, I go to do some
research and I find that all of my keywords that are used throughout
my ebook have less than 1,000 searches done per month.  Not only
that, but there are already over 20,000 sites that provide information
on this subject!

Oh no!  Now what am I going to do?  How will my new ebook
compete with over 20,000 sites to get those few people who
actually search on the subject each month?  I do the best that I can
in optimizing my site for the search engines and I hope that I have
really high conversion rates.

Example 2

I know quite a bit about several subjects.  I could easily put my
thoughts together into an ebook.  To help me decide which subject I
should select, and how to focus my thoughts on that subject, I do
some research.  I want to find a topic that has a number of people
who are interested in the topic.  I want to make sure that those
people are actually willing to spend money to obtain that
information.  I want to find unique ways of telling those people that I
provide the information they want and need through my ebook.

Now, I do a bunch of research and I find that there are over 100,000
searches per month done on my topic.  There are still 20,000 sites
that provide information on this subject, but we are competing for
the attention of a much higher number of people.

Next I go to the pay-per-click search engines and check to see how
high the highest bid Is for the given keywords.  The higher the bid,
the likelier that people are already making money in that niche,
which means that target audience consists of buyers.

Once my product is focused toward these people, I can easily
create a keyword optimized website to submit to the search engines
to sell my new ebook.

Can you see the subtle difference between the two examples?  When you create
a product for a specific market, the probability of your success and profitability is
much higher.  When you have to work in reverse, you are trying to create a
market for a specific product. 

Unfortunately, unless you are operating a company that's about the size of
Microsoft, you are not in a position to become a marketer mover.  Until your
business is that big, you cannot create a market on your own. So, do yourself a
favor and create your product for the market instead.

Hold a Brainstorming Session

To start out, have a brainstorming session with yourself.  Have a brainstorming
session with your significant other.  Have a brainstorming session with another
marketer.  Do whatever you can to get those creative juices to start flowing. 

When doing your brainstorming, you want to focus on your goal.  Remember that
the ultimate goal is to produce a product.  The interim goal, though, is to find a
hungry market that is willing to part with some money to obtain the information
that you are selling.

Don't limit yourself to any specific topic at this point.  Anything can be a product! 
Not everything might justify a nice price tag, but everything can be a product. 

What? You don't know how to brainstorm?  It's easy really.  Just throw out ideas. 
This early in the game, there are no bad ideas or good ideas - there are only
ideas.  Break each idea apart - combine a few together - follow one idea to
another.  This is what brainstorming is all about! 

Now, it can be much harder to do when you are trying to create a product that you
don't know much about.  Then, topics are a bit harder to come by.  Otherwise,
look around you.  Try thinking of everything and anything as a potential product.

One piece of software you can use to help you brainstorm is called the Complete
Brainstorm Lab.  You’ll find it at:  http://www.InstantEzineContent.com .

If you just glanced across your room and you see a telephone, perhaps you could
find a way to turn that into an info product.  Let's brainstorm it.  You could have an
ebook about using the telephone to profit.  You could have a software product
that helps you use the telephone to profit.  One way to do this easily is start
thinking in terms of "How To".  When you look at something, think of all of the
"How tos" that could go with it.  You'd be amazed at the "gazillions" of products
that you can come up with!

The Two Parts of the Equation for Finding a Target Market

When finding a market for your info product, remember that there are 2 parts to
the equation: 

1.  You'll need an information hungry market AND
2.  You'll need that market to be willing to open their wallets. 

You want to make sure that the market that you select has the money to spend
on the information that you provide.  You would not want to focus your efforts on
creating a product that would be useful to homeless people unless you intended
on making it a charitable contribution.  That market would simply not have any
money to spend on your info product. 

Similarly, you wouldn't want to focus your efforts on creating a product for a
market that usually gets their information from free sources.  For example,
creating an info product for a group that regularly looks for answers in thrift shops
probably would not be a good idea.  You'll have to put that much extra effort into
selling to them.  Why not create a product that is targeted to a specific market
that has money and actually spends money in the first place?

So, once you've done some brainstorming and you've written down all of your
ideas, you need to start focusing further on what might be saleable.  You won't
always have much knowledge on a subject that might be profitable.  In that case,
you will have to create a product on something that you know little about. 
Remember -- the goal is A product -- ANY product at this point - that has an
info hungry market of buyers who will spend money.

Mark Hendricks, in his ebook "How To Find The People Who Will Buy Whatever
You Want To Sell Them “  explained this well:

The absolute easiest way to catch fish is to put your bait in a barrel
that contains ...

"a whole bunch of hungry fish."

Now I know that sounds like an over-simplification, but it's the truth,
isn't it?

They're all grouped together.  They're hungry.  You've got the right
food.  You drop bait in.  They bite.

Here's a little three step secret to the successful marketing of
anything!

"You've got to ...
reach the right market ...
with the right message ...
at the right time."

Simple as that.
Think about it for a second.

Let's use our fishing example.

The right market - you've found them...they're in the barrel!
The right message - fat and juicy wiggling worms.
The right time - they are hungry - now!

Do you think they're going to bite?

Yes!

If you were to sit down and think about this idea, you would easily see that the
number 2 reason why people on the internet fail to succeed, it is because they do
not locate their market before selecting a product.  Even then, it is 2nd only
behind those who simply fail to take action in the first place.

Go where the money is !

If you are able to become successful without starting out by selecting your
market, then it is almost pure luck that you didn't fall flat on your face.  That is
really how important it is to make this your absolute first step in creating your info
product.

Equally important is the idea of selecting the "right" market.  Ordinarily, I am of
the opinion that there is no "right" way or "wrong" way, only "different" ways.  The
same is true with opinions.  Well, with selecting a market, there actually is a right
market and a wrong market.  Select a wrong market, and you're actually worse off
that if you would have created an info product without first locating a market.  The
right market is one that has buyers ... and lots of them!

The market you select to create your info product for must be hungry for
information AND they must be willing to pay almost any price to get that
information.  By definition, a "market" is a group of people who come together for
a common purpose.  People by nature tend to belong to groups as they feel most
comfortable associating with like minded people.

In order to achieve success with an info product online, you'll need to find the
right group of like-minded people for your info product.  In other words, those
people who are buyers (not window shoppers) of information on a given topic. 
Then, and only then, can you create a product tailored to their specific needs. 
This will assure you of having people lining up to buy the information that you
provide to them.

Marketers, especially Internet Marketers trying to sell you products, talk about
‘hot’ markets. Jimmy D. Brown calls it ‘burning needs’ (a mis-quote, I’m sure).
Whatever you want to name it, it makes sense to target products and markets
that have a heavy demand – lots of buyers. But that’s not all, is it?

Keep an eye out for the other side of the marketing equation – the supply side.
Wading into a highly competitive marketplace is risky if you’re starting your first
business. Find a market which still has room for more competition (the demand /
supply ratio is high) and where the market is large enough to be profitable
(targeting Ugandan farmers isn’t exactly a killer idea – targeting African farmers is
a better idea scale-wise, but then you run into purchasing power.)

In other words, pick a market where:

·    The buyers are willing AND able
·    The suppliers are not too great in number (Internet Marketing is inherently a
tough niche to enter precisely because every one tries to sell marketing
products)
·    The market is big enough to make a profit and expand in the future.

This is exactly what you learned to do earlier in this course.  The same concept
applies whether you are creating an info product from scratch or using other
people's products to create your own ... you must still do your research before
creating the product.

Marketing Your Info Product

If there is one bit of advice I can ever give you, whether it be about marketing or business success in general, it is a quote from Russell Crowe in Gladiator:

“On my mark, unleash hell.”

Yes, you might have heard one or two other marketers quoting this very same
line. And with good reason. That one line epitomizes the very core of what all
marketing programs teach you. Here’s a break down:

*    Find your target
Pick a market that is favorable for approach. It doesn’t have to be the
perfect idea, just one that works on paper, and most importantly,
something that you know you can do while maintaining interest.

*    Prepare your approach
Mark out the main spots – what sort of advertising mediums can you use?
What is your budget? What is your exact strategy for each medium? No
need to go into excruciating details, but you should know, for example,
your allocated monthly budget for your PPC campaign, your target
keywords and the expected cost-per-click for each keyword. This will at
the very least help you monitor your advertising and tune it based on the
results.

*    Intense marketing
There are two different approaches in this regard. Use the first one if you
can afford to spend a lot of money on traffic, use the second if most of your
advertising budget will be paid for by your business even at the start.

       - All-out marketing, pulling out all the stops at once, complete
         blanketing of your target market
     
       - Slow build-up, tackling different advertising mediums one by one,
         building to crescendo effect where at the end, you replicate the
         effect in the ‘all-out marketing’ technique.

Taken by itself, the term ‘unleash hell’ is also used to describe another valuable business lesson:

If you have a product, or a business idea, or a service to sell, GET IT OUT
THERE! Take your business to the market first, worry about refining and
managing later.

Essentially, don’t wait months to find the perfect idea. Pick an idea that’s good enough, and launch your business. If you are a resume writer and want to
sell your services online, throw up a website, put up your basic contact and
payment information and BEGIN PROMOTION.

Too often people wait too long until they have the ‘finished’ product before
starting their marketing campaigns. A newcomer shouldn’t waste their time like
that. The product will be developed along the way through customer interaction
anyway. On the other hand, there is no way you’ll make any money without
traffic.  So go get that traffic, and ‘perfection’ will come in due time.

Spot the trend, and ride it

When you are looking for a new business idea, use social and marketing trends
to help you out. For an extreme example, Internet Marketers seem to use every
holiday, be it January 1st, December 25th, 4th of July or even April 1st, to offer special deals and discounts in order to make a few more sales.

You can use the same strategy but come off looking good.

How?

Here’s how you can spot trends and profit from them.

1.  Use seasons and times of the year to see when is the best time to launch
your business. For example, if you want to sell customized t-shirts, when
do you think it would be better to start? Summer? No. Start in winter so
that you’re prepared for the spring wardrobe change. Now, turn this into an
info product idea. 

2.  Look at developing interests through international events (sports, social,
political, cultural and even economic) to use locally in your business. From
simple things like using your favorite soccer club’s recent success by
offering souvenirs and special discounts to elaborate business
investments such as sponsorships and partnerships with other
businesses, it’s always important to keep your business grounded in real-
world events.

3.  Movie releases, books, public events and seasons tend to increase
peoples’ interests in various topics. And what is the primary method for
people to search for information? The Internet! Cash in on trends by
having the right ‘information’ ready in time, and then use that traffic any
way you choose (hopefully to make a lot of money). In the next section I’ll
tell you some excellent ideas on using public domain works to profit from
trends.

Info products are perfect for capitalizing on ANY trend, fad, holiday, etc.
Set out to find that right market and proceed with your info product
business.

Finding Your Market: The Nuts and Bolts of Market Research for Info Product Creators

In conducting your initial market research, you will take a different approach than
you would if you were optimizing a website for a search engine.  There's no need
to start out with keyword research immediately.  In fact, it's probably better if you
don't.  All that keyword research will tell you is whether or not people are
searching on your chosen term.  It won't tell you about the size of the market nor
will it tell you about the market itself.

Do your research carefully!  As I said before, one of the biggest reasons that
people fail online (if they have even TRIED in the first place, that is), is because
they fail to create products for which there is a market.  Follow the ideas
contained in this course and make sure that a market exists before ever delving
into product creation.  In the long run, a little extra care in this area could reap
great rewards later.

To determine whether there is even a market in the first place (but not to learn
about the size of that market or whether they are spenders), try going to Amazon
or Barnes and Noble.  In fact, you can even browse the sites online so that you
don't even have to leave the house!  Just go to http://www.Amazon.com or
http://www.BarnesAndNoble.com.

Look through the best seller's list at both places.  You are looking to see if there
are a lot of best selling books on a particular topic.  If there are, then that topic
might be profitable to create a product around.  You can also take a look at
http://www.Magazines.com.  Take a look around there as well.  If people are
purchasing magazines on a given topic, there's a good chance that they'll
purchase a book on the same subject. 

When browsing these titles, also look at the price tags on the books.  Are the
books on your chosen topic usually available in only hard cover or are there
paper back titles as well?  Do the books start at $9.95 or do they start at $39.95? 
This will help you later when you try to put a price tag on your work.  You'll know
a little more about whether the market you have selected is willing to open their
wallet a little, or really wide.

Remember to always check out ClickBank as well.  You can find them at
http://www.clickbank.com.  You want to look at the best sellers here as well. 
These are usually the topics that are hot on the internet right now.

Researching Your Target Market

In researching your target market, one thing you can do is get out of the office
and go to the corner Barnes and Noble.  When you are in the store, you need to
be aware of the merchandising. 

The book publishing companies spend a LOT of money studying the placement
of products.  As a general rule, those books that are displayed at eye level are
the books that they expect to sell. In addition, those on the end caps (especially
at eye level) are the better sellers.  Take a good look around you and make a
note of these.

You will also want to look at the magazines and be aware of the same exact
thing.  With magazines that are at eye level, you will also want to notice:

1)  The number of magazines on any given topic;
2)  The price of the magazines in any given topic;
3)  The titles of the articles within the magazines for the hot topics.

Now, take a look at the "House Plans" type magazines. There are a TON of them! 
And, they are all very expensive.  Chances are that this is a hot topic.

Are you following this process?  Your goal at this point is to find a topic -- ANY
topic -- but preferably, a HOT topic.  If you pick a hot topic, no matter how much
competition there is in the market, you will at least get over the first hurdle of
having an audience.

Your research will tell you whether there is a market for your topic, and it will also
tell you whether the market is over saturated.  But be careful … In a highly
saturated market, you’ll need to have more money to spend on advertising,
especially if the cost per click is fairly high.  Thus, it wouldn't be advisable to pick
a highly saturated market for a first infoproduct.

Using Yahoo For Researching Your Target Market

If you're really stumped for a topic for an info product, you can use the Yahoo
Directory for Hobbies.  It can be an absolute gold mine when looking for profitable
topics for info products!  Remember that most people are extremely passionate
about their hobbies.  So, if you create an info product around a hot hobby, you
are sure to rake in the dough!

You can also take a look at the Yahoo Groups that exist for your market.  Yahoo
Groups are forums that are housed at Yahoo and run by independent people. 
There are tens of thousands of Yahoo Groups available. 

The way that they work is this:  people join as members of each forum. They can
participate either by going to the forum to view and post or by subscribing to the
emails for that group. 

You can get these on an individual basis or in a daily or weekly batch of posts.  If
you find a hot group, make sure that you DON'T select the individual posts or you
will be bombarded with email! (In fact, I have a separate email address that I use
for Yahoo groups so that I don't have to look at all of that mail unless
I have time for it.)  Bookmark the groups that you find that pertain to your topic! 

These can be an invaluable resource when you start marketing your finished
product.  You can find Yahoo Groups for Hobbies at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/dir/Hobbies___Crafts/.

Still stumped for ideas on a topic?  Well, here are my bookmarks that I list as
"Find What's Hot".  If you don't find a hot topic, one suitable for the next best
seller, I'll be VERY surprised:

* http://www.MyHotItems.com -- This is a directory that is generated based on
keywords being searched over the last 7 days.

* http://Buzz.Yahoo.com -- The Yahoo Buzz Log - this is an index of the top 15
search terms for that day on Yahoo.  It sorts the results by various categories. 
Down the left side, you'll find Today's Top Movers, Actors, Movies, Music Sports,
etc.  On the right, you'll find a bit of analysis about search spikes and trends. 
Very enlightening!

* http://www.google.com/press/zeitgeist.html -- Google's Press Center - the
Zeitgeist - In German, "Zeitgeist" refers to the general intellectual, moral, and
cultural climate of an era. Google chose this term as the name for its list of the
top 15 most searched keywords.  Google also breaks their lists up by categories
such as the Top 30, Popular Retailers, Popular Sports Queries, and Popular
Music rated categories.

Selecting Your Info Product Topic

In general, there are 4 types of info products that fall into the ebook category:

1.  Pleasure books
These include fiction, novels, poetry, short stories, dramas, mysteries, suspense,
adventure, humor, etc.

2.  Inspiration books
These include books on spirituality, religious topics, bible studies, stories from the
heart, certain types of self help topics

3.  Study guides
These are reference books and can be on any number of topics

4.  "How-to" books
These are the do it yourself type books and include self improvement topics as
well as a ton of others. This can also include How-to's about becoming successful
in your own business, How-to basket weave, etc.  Any topic from A to Z can be
covered in a "How-to" format.

On the internet, more so than offline, the best selling ebooks are in the "How-to”
categories.  When selecting your topic, make sure it’s a subject that you do
actually have some knowledge about—or alternatively, make sure you hire a
writer who does.

If you think that you've found an untapped topic, consider whether it's a topic that
anyone is even likely to purchase in the first place.  Make sure you really do your
research well for that one!  The reason is that publishers know what sell.  Like
you, they are in business to make money.  If there was money in the topic,
chances are that some smart publisher would already have put out a book on the
subject.  So just do your homework carefully.

Once you have an idea for your topic, assess the popularity of your chosen topic. 
This is where the keyword research startz.   Here’s a simple three-step process:

1. Identify keywords for your book idea.
2. Conduct a search of your keywords to determine how many people are
searching for the information you’re putting out.
3. Run your keywords through the search engines and look for the following
information:
    A. The number of e-books already available on the subject.
    B. The number of paid sponsor ads for the search. This indicates that
there is interest on the subject—otherwise big companies wouldn’t be wasting
their marketing budgets to sponsor the searches.

One tool that you can use to do your keyword research is Click Ad Equalizer. 
This tool will let you do all of your research from one place.  You can find it at:

http://www.AskGGG.com/recommends/clickad

Your research will tell you whether there is a market for your topic, and it will also
tell you whether the market is over saturated.  Don’t be afraid of a little
competition.  In fact, some competition is actually healthy and it shows that there
is definitely a market for the topic.  In a highly saturated market, though, you will
need to have more money to spend on advertising, especially if the cost per click
is fairly high.  Thus, I probably wouldn't pick a highly saturated market for my first
product.

How To Create Your Own Info Products

Let's start out by talking about developing your own info products.  Honestly, I
believe that this is the route that you should take to ensure that you create the
greatest income online (with the exception of combining methods).  Even if you
have to pay someone to develop your products for you, in the long run, your profit
potential is greater.

You see, with this option, you are able to develop your own force of affiliates to
sell your product for you.  You also control whether you are selling the product
only or selling some form of resale rights to the product as well.  In fact, you can
even charge a separate price for the product and the resale rights, providing you
with multiple income streams from a single product.

The one downside to creating your own products (or having them created for
you), is that it takes some time to do it properly.  And, if you are paying someone
else to develop the product, your costs can be quite high.  However, if you have
sufficient time and a desire to save a ton of money, the work is not difficult.  In the
long run, though, I am sure that you will find that the costs are minimal compared
to the income you can derive.

One further benefit of creating your own product is the name recognition that you
will certainly attain if you have a hit product on your hands.  Once you produce
your own product, you can instantly become an expert in your field.  Who knows? 
If your product is a big enough success, you may even attain that coveted "guru
status" overnight!

Think about what this can mean to your income online?  People always look to
the experts to provide them with information. One good info product can open the
door for an entire line of info products, all created by you! 

The first step that you will take in creating your own product is to find your market. 
I can't emphasize enough the importance of finding a market first, and then
creating your product for that market.  Once you have your topic selected, only
then can you move on to the next step ... deciding what type of product to create.

What type of product will info you create?

Once you have researched your topic, it's time to decide what type of product
would fit your topic.  Do you want an ebook?  Should it be software?  What form
will your product take? 

To start you off on the right foot, read the ebook entitled "Super Fast Products" by
Larry Dotson.  This book contains 100 ideas for generating your own info
products.  These suggestions can be very easy, very fast, and very inexpensive
to implement. 

For example, did you ever think about interviewing an expert in your given topic
area and turning that interview into a product?  Actually, you could make multiple
products from a single interview!  Be creative here ... interview the person over
the telephone and record the call.  Then, you can sell the recording as one
product. 

You can sell a transcript as a second product.  You can put together a summary
of the transcript and use it as a multi-part e-course to get new subscribers to your
list.  As I said, be creative!  The possibilities are endless!

Once you find a profitable topic and you've done your research to confirm that
there is a market for the topic, it's time to begin developing your product around
the topic. For example, say that your topic is building sand castles, your first step
would be to create an outline of what your book on sand castles would contain. 
Take each bullet from your outline and write a few pages about it. 

You should start with a very basic outline.  Simply put in the big roman numerals. 
From there, go in and create sub-sections with capital letters for each one.  Once
you have the sub-sections, add in numbered lists for each of the letters.  You can
actually write an entire book in this fashion.

When you're done, put it all together in one file.  Guess what?  You just created
your first product!  Time to start selling!

Hiring a Ghostwriter

One option in creating an info product is to pay someone to create a product for
you.  There are tons of websites out there where you can easily find someone to
do this.  For many, having their name on a best seller is simply not as important
as having a buck in their wallet.  They're willing to forego the name recognition
and often, they do so for what seems like very little money.

These writers are known as "freelancers" or "ghost writers".  Remember, though,
that even if you end up hiring someone to create your product for you, you will still
have to do the initial research to come up with the idea for your product.  Only
then can you hire someone to create it.  You can check out the following sites for
freelance product creators:

http://www.elance.com
http://www.guru.com
http://www.rentacoder.com
http://www.sologig.com
http://www.editor.com
http://www.freelance-work-exhcange.com
http://www.wildcowpublishing.com (this one is great for software products)


At many of the sites above, all you do is register as a member (usually for free)
and you are allowed to post your project for freelance creators to see.  The secret
here is to make your product sound like it will be the next New York Times best
seller.  You want to stimulate interest among the freelancers so that they will bid
against each other causing your cost to decrease.  Again, you will want to be
creative here. 

Are there other ways that you can compensate a ghost writer other than by an up
front fee?  Perhaps a flat percentage of each copy sold?  It would be unlikely that
you would find someone who would do the work without any money paid up front,
but you might be able to get the cost reduced if you can offer something on the
back end as a result of sales. 

When working with any of the freelance sites, make sure that you clearly define
the terms of your contract in your offer.  For example, don't forget to discuss the
intellectual property rights to your product.  You want to make sure that you are
the owner of these rights.  If you are not careful here, you could find your ghost
writer trying to get a copyright on your product! 

You want to make sure that you check references of those who bid on your
project, though. Ask to see samples of their prior work.  Of course, they usually
can't tell you what products they have "ghostwritten" as this would violate their
prior business arrangements.  (Think about it, do you want them blabbing that
they were the "brains" behind your product?)  So, respect them if they can't tell
you.  Simply ask them to see SOMETHING that they have done in the past and
make sure that their work is up to your standard.

To get an idea of how to work with a ghost writer, go to any of the freelance sites
and scroll through the projects that are already posted by category.  This will also
let you see approximately how much you should expect to spend for your project
as well.  For example, in a review of projects on Elance.com, I came across several
requests for bid for article writing. The topics varied from identity theft to insurance
to cell phones, just to name a few.  Most of the requests were for 7 to 10 articles
and there were plenty of bidders even when the projected price was listed at less
than $250.

One other note about working with a ghostwriter.  Make sure that you have a
“Work For Hire” contract in writing …. Either electronically or in hard copy. 
This is important so that you can prove that you own the copyright if this should
ever become an issue.  You can certainly find sample agreements in Google that
you can use.

Creating Your Info Product

Whether you choose to create an ebook yourself, or hire someone else to write your ebook or program your software, you will still need certain tools to put your product together.  If you are writing an ebook, you will need to consider what format you deliver it in.  There are a few different standards out there.

Many ebooks come delivered in a compiled version.  What this means is that you create the ebook by putting each chapter onto its own html page.  You then place all of the pages in a single folder on your server.  Then, select one of the many ebook compiler programs and use it to compile the ebook.

In selecting the software that you choose to use as your compiler, decide whether you want to make your book brandable or not.  A brandable book is one where you allow your reader to either pass the book out for free, or one where you provide your reader with some form of redistribution rights. 

To encourage the reader to redistribute your ebook, you allow the reader to include his or her own name and usually URL in the ebook.  If you would really like someone to work at redistribution, consider including brandable affiliate links as well.  These are things that you should carefully plan out when putting your ebook together.

Another format you can use for your ebook is the Adobe PDF format.  There is no need to purchase an expensive Adobe product to do this.  You can obtain a great tool free of charge.  It is called Open Office , and allows you to easily create PDFs for free.

You should also be aware that you should NOT use DOC (Word) files when distributing an ebook.  This is to protect the security of your work.  (The only time that you would want to distribute an ebook in DOC format is if you were transferring private label rights to your purchaser.) 

Here's the reason.  You want to make it as difficult as possible for your reader to steal your valuable, intellectual property.  You've put a lot of time and effort into your info product.  It would be a shame to have it stolen.  The harder you make it for someone to steal from you, the less it will happen.  In fact, you should even consider disabling the right click function in your PDF document as well.  This doesn't prevent people from copying the text, it just makes it more difficult.

Become an Affiliate

You can become an affiliate of a website quite easily today.  Some websites offer free affiliate programs to anyone who registers.  The affiliate then sells the product in return for a percentage of the sale.  You can expect to receive anywhere from 5% to 50% (and at times, as much as 70% or so) as a commission.  The percentages vary from site to site. 

Another unique twist in some affiliate programs is that you might be required to purchase the product before you have the right to sell it as an affiliate.  This is perfectly legal and above board.  Usually, the reason for this requirement is that the creator wants to make sure that the salesmen are familiar with the product.  (In fact, in the sales world, they usually say that people who use their own products have much higher sales.) 

There are a ton of websites out there that list all different kinds of affiliate programs.  Go to any search engine and type in "Affiliate Program Directory" and see what I mean. 

After you join an affiliate program, you will receive an affiliate ID (sometimes you get to select your ID).  This ID is used to create a special URL that you will use to market the product.  The URL is what tracks sales and credits you as the seller.  Make sure that you keep a list of any affiliate URLs that you may have, so that you can refer back to it in the future.

Affiliate marketing is not difficult.  However, it is equally time consuming.  Wouldn't you rather spend your efforts in a direction that would maximize your profit potential?  That being said, one excellent use for affiliate programs is to couple them with your own products to add multiple streams of income.  If used this way, you simply look for products that have affiliate programs, and that are in a market that compliments your chosen topic.

If you are interested in learning more about marketing with affiliate programs, do a search on "affiliate program training" in any search engine.  There are literally thousands of sites available that can help teach you how to market using affiliate programs.

If you decide to take the affiliate route, there are a ton of resources out there showing you how to be an info product affiliate marketer.

Resale Rights in General

Resale rights are AWESOME! They are one of the best things to ever happen to Internet
marketing and thousands of people have made a fortune or at least a good living from
resale rights.

There are two basic ways to make money with resale rights:

• You can either buy resale rights to someone else’s product which will give you the right to
sell it to the end user and keep 100% of the profits.
• Or, you can sell resale rights to other people who want to have rights to sell a product
and keep 100% of the profits.

And that is the two basic ways you can make money with resale rights. So what’s so
awesome about that?

First of all, if you don’t have time to create your own products, you have no experience,
you are lazy, or you simply want to get started with making money on the internet as soon
as humanly possible, you can simply buy resale rights to a product (which will usually
come with a ready made sales letter and graphics), upload the product to the Internet and
BAM! You’ve got your own online business!

Basically, buying resale rights allows a person to start their own online business in under a
day ... in fact, it can take as little as an hour!

Ok, so with resale rights one can start an online business almost instantly. But that is just
one of the many reasons resale rights are so awesome. I’ve covered making money by
buying resale rights, but what about selling them?

Believe it or not, selling resale rights can be even more profitable than buying them! Here’s
why...

First of all, because resale rights are the absolute easiest and fastest way to start an
online business, A LOT of people are buying resale rights. In fact, most people that buy
resale rights usually buy resale rights to more than one product.  And why not?

Instead of buying resale rights to just one product and setting up one online business, why
not buy a whole bunch and set up a lot of businesses? And that is exactly what a lot of
people that buy resale rights do.

Ok, so resale rights are HOT and a lot of people are looking to buy them. So that’s one
reason to start selling resale rights.  But in my opinion, the main reason why selling resale
rights is so darn great is because of the price you can sell them at.

You can sell resale rights for anywhere from just $10 to over $1,000! So it allows you to
have a high priced item that is actually a hot seller.

And that is a great way to make a lot of money. All the big names in Internet Marketing
make big bucks selling high ticket items. $97 eBooks, $197 software, and even $997 DVD
courses. And unless you are already an expert you probably don’t have the experience
and knowledge to create such high priced products.

But with resale rights you can!

Because when you sell resale rights, you are not selling an eBook or course. You are not
teaching people how to do something, no, what you are doing is actually selling a business
that people can actually start making money with!

And in most cases, giving somebody a business they can actually make money with is a
lot more valuable than simply telling them how to create it themselves. Plus, it’s a hell of a
lot more appealing as well

The Different Types Of Resale Rights

As you may already know, there are many different kinds of resale rights that you can buy
or sell.

Here are the main types:

>     Resale Rights
This gives you the right to resell a product to an end user. This can apply to both physical
and digital products. Where a digital product is concerned, you resell the product and keep
100% of the profits without losing the enjoyment of the same product as digital products
are duplicable in nature.

>    Basic Resale Rights
You have the right to resell the product but your customer does not have the right to resell
it to another. You keep 100% of the profit after every sale you make.

>    Master Resale Rights
You have the right to resell the product as well as the Basic Resale rights itself to your
customers. Your customers can in turn resell the same book to their customers. The
Master Resale rights can either be bundled together with the purchase of the product or
purchased separately from the product.

>    Private Label Rights
This is the mother lode of all resale rights!  Buying Private Label Rights usually give you
the right to change the product in any way you like, put your own name on it, sell resale
rights or even master resale rights to others and basically use and treat the product as it
were your own creation.

>    Give Away Rights
You can give the product away for free. In most cases, however, you cannot resell and/or
edit it.

>    Royalty Rights
You have to pay the original product author or franchisor a percentage of every sale made
by you. This right normally applies to physical products. McDonald’s and books found in
bookstores are very good examples that demonstrate this right.

At times you can purchase a product and it will automatically come with either resale rights
or master resale rights.  Other times, you purchase the product and the resale or master
resale rights separately.  In either case, once you have some type of resale rights to a
product, you may then begin making sales and you get to keep 100% of the profits. 

This is just like having a product of your own.  The only difference is that you are not
authorized to change anything about the product and the product creator's name remains
on the product.

I'll bet that you even own rights to products already and you may not even realize it.  You
see, many products on the internet are sold with either resale rights or master resale rights
already.  So, make sure that you read the sales letters carefully!

Sell Resale Rights or Master Resale Rights to Your Info Product

Well, you can use resale rights to make money in a ton of different ways.  For example, if
you have already created an info product of your own, you can easily bring in some extra
money by selling resale rights or master resale rights to that product. 

You can easily sell these types of rights for about double the price of the original product,
especially if you allow the purchaser to "brand" the product that you sell resale rights for. 
By "branding", I mean that you still have your name on the product as the author or
creator, but that the purchaser can add his or her own name (and possibly a small advert
and/or website link) as the "Presenter".  This way, you'll both get exposure! 

You can also purchase other people’s products with master resale rights or private label
rights and then resell the resale rights to those products.  If you have purchased a product
with private label rights, you can even modify the product as you see fit and then resell the
resale rights to your newly created product.  This product is your very own. 

If you have an affiliate program, you can allow the purchaser to include his or her affiliate
link in your info product. They will try a littler harder to promote it if they will get back end
commissions.  In fact, you can also consider making the entire product brandable.  For
instance, say that you included several different affiliate links in the ebook so that you
would make money on the back end.  Well, if you can, only include those products that pay
on two tiers.  Then, give the purchasers branding rights and allow them to even brand the
affiliate links scattered throughout your ebook.  This way, you'll even make money from
their affiliate sales AND they'll be even more likely to hustle to promote your book!

Profiting With Resale Rights Products

You can use resale rights to find a way to charge more for your own info product.  One
way that you can do this quickly and easily is to include other, complimentary products
with your info product, to form a complete package.  This way, you are not just selling an
info product, but rather, a complete course!

Most resale rights products come with their own pre-made websites. Although this may
sound good to beginners, it has one drawback.  Everyone is trying to promote the product
using the same website!  So, be a little different.  You have 2 choices here. You can either
create your own website for the product (more on this later), or, try to locate products that
do NOT have websites created for them AND do not normally come with resale rights. 
Your product will stand out because it is not selling the same thing as all of the other sites.

You can also use resale rights to bring new life to an old product.  Simply contact the
authors and ask if you can use excerpts from their product in your own.  For example, you
could find 5 products on copywriting.  Contact the authors and tell them that you are
working on a new book on copywriting.  You want to credit them as an expert in the field
and use a portion of their work.  They will probably be more than happy to allow you to do
this.  Most resale rights products are considered "old" after about 3 to 6 months of being
sold with rights, so this should give you plenty of products to choose from.

Need a few more ideas?

How about this ... Sell your own info product that you created in the prior chapter from a
website.  Include a related, complimentary package of products with resale rights as a
one-time offer.  Or, use it as a back end offer on your thank you page.  Not many people
think about putting a second item up for sale on the thank you page, and they are missing
a perfect opportunity.  Think about it! You already have the sale in the first place - the
customer might even still have his credit card in hand.  Why not try to sell them something
else right then and there?  There are a ton of ways to be creative to profit from your thank
you page.

How about creating a mini-course from a group of resale rights products covering a similar topic? 

How would you go about doing this?  The first thing you will want to do is take inventory of what you have. List every single product you have or have resale rights to. Now start finding ones that are related to one another, or ones that compliment each other.

Group them into separate groups of about 3-5 products each.

Each of those groups is a NEW product. You are simply taking what you have, making a package out of it and reselling it. All you will need to do now is to create a graphic of your new package and a website for the package.  The possibilities here are endless: put 3 or 4 products together on headline writing; put a few products together on ezine publishing; put a group of 3 products together on website design.   If you have a list (if you don’t, don’t worry …. you'll learn how to get one later in this course), you simply start emailing to your subscribers and watching the sales come in.

Remember earlier in this book when I gave you the formula for creating a “Happier Customer”?  Well, this is one place that you need to make sure that you don't hurt your credibility. If you are creating product packages, make sure that you tell the customer what is in your new package.  It's ok to tell them that someone else produced the products in the first place.  You are showing them some respect by saving them time and money and providing it to them as a package, at a package discount.  Use the original creator's credibility to bolster your own for maximum profitability. 

The trick to making money with resale rights products is: 1) get the rights to the products early on, and 2) have a huge collection of products to choose from. 

Private Label Rights Products

One type of right that is becoming increasingly popular on the internet is known as Private
Label Rights.  With Private Label Rights you have master resale rights AND you also have
the right to modify the product as well.  In fact, you can usually put your own name on the
product as its creator.  As with the other types of resale rights, you also keep 100% of the
profits from product sales.

Whenever possible, you want to purchase products with Private Label Rights.  If those are
not offered, then try for Master Resale Rights.  Remember that selling resale rights with a
product ads value because the purchaser is getting their own product to sell, from which
they can keep 100% of the profits.  So, if you are selling a product with any form of resale
rights, you can usually command a higher price for it.

Sites with great private label rights products:
http://www.privatelabelrightsebooks.net/Links.php

One other thing that you should know about purchasing any of the resale rights (resale
rights, master resale rights, and private label rights) products is that usually, they even
come with their own websites.  This will save you a ton of time!  All you'll have to do is
modify the existing website, upload it to your hosting account, and start your marketing.

If you find a product that you would like to sell and it does not come with resale rights,
don't hesitate to contact the owner and ask if they would consider selling you resale rights
to the product. This is actually the most profitable way to use resale rights because you’re
not competing with everyone else who is selling the same product.

There are over 1,000 products with resale rights, master resale rights, and private label
rights available through the sites above.  And, they give you new products each and every
month that you remain a member.  This way you'll never run out of products for your new
business!  Their private label rights products are some of the best available online.

As you can see, you have a lot of options when starting your own info product business.
Now it’s time for you to take action.

Public Domain Products

The Public Domain is a GOLD MINE.

It is a wonderful resource for instant content - whether you need content for your info
product or content for an ecourse to market your info product.  Whether you are looking to
add to your regular online business or want to start a new one, you can use public domain
works to generate whatever content you need.

1    Imagine saving the time required to write your own e-book or 100 articles!
2    Imagine saving the money you pay to ghostwriters!
   
    Interested?
   
    Here's what the Public Domain is:
   
    The Public Domain refers to that collection of published or unpublished ‘work’ that is not
protected by the US copyright law. Since copyright law forbids legal commercial use, the
public domain (which contains everything that is not governed by copyright laws) is free for
you to use in any commercial setting, without fear of lawsuits or the need for giving credit
or reference.
   
    Note:  In this case, ‘work’ refers to anything that can possibly be published and sold. Thus
a work could be a book, a course, an instruction manual, music, movies, photographs,
reports, recipes, ideas, inventions and lots more.
   
    Example:  The famous Mona Lisa, painted by that great artist Leonardo da Vinci has the
potential to fall under the public domain. In the same vein, Beethoven’s 5th Symphony
would also be considered in the public domain. John Reese’s Traffic Secrets course,
however, is definitely not public domain (although the ideas and techniques used within
them are).
   
    So basically you are free to use work in the public domain on your own benefit!  There is a
TON of already published information that is contained within the public domain.  You can
use any of it to your benefit for creating your info product, for creating content for your
website, for creating ecourses to market your info product, or for any other reason that you
see fit.  Using the public domain will help to maximize your profitability in your info product
business as your product creation costs will be less, the time that you spend creating will
be lowered, and you will have a tool to increase visitors to your website.
   


 ARTICLE INDEX

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