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Information products are the ideal
business to start if you are looking for an online business. They
are easy to produce, simple to ship, and can enjoy high markups
because people are not paying for the physical form the product is
delivered in. They are paying for the valuable information contained
within.
41. Books This is the most commonly known information product. So many people just limit their potential businesses to just this one avenue. They see how long it takes to create a full book and they just can't imagine how they could ever get involved in the information business. The big disadvantage to books is the time it takes from creation to completion and the pains associated with getting it published. The advantage of books over some of the other methods though are a possible increased circulation with all of the avenues of distribution that print books have over the other forms of information. A newer version of books are the electronic kind like you are reading now. Publishing time is only a few minutes using many of the software programs available out there. The only time involved is the time it takes to create the product. If left in it's electronic format, there is a $0 fulfillment cost for the book and it can be easily downloaded off of the web by any of your customers. 42. Reports Shorter than full length books. Reports are great for subjects which constantly change (such as internet marketing, etc.) or are a shorter discussion of the subject. Reports are also perfect for a Free or low cost bonus to go along with other product you sell or to a be lead-in to your higher priced products or services. Reports can also be in a printed format or in an electronic format just the same as books can. 43. Courses If you come up with an information product that gives step-by-step directions on how to reach certain results, you may want to consider packaging it as a training course. (Course could be books, videos, manuals, reports, audio's, etc. all separately or together in one package). Training courses in general will contain very specific information and step-by-step directions (including worksheets, samples, etc.). They are also priced higher than some of the other methods and are sold for between $97 and $997 in most cases. Videotaping a seminar often can make a good course as well. 44. Seminars If your presentation really works well with hands-on training, then you may want to consider doing a seminar or workshop as your product or as a backend to other products you may be selling. They carry a premium price on them (generally $199 - $15,000) and are usually the best training people could possibly find on the subject. If you are going to do seminars, you should spend quite a bit of time learning how to do public speaking (joining Toastmasters wouldn't hurt) and preparing workbooks and presentations for your audience. Also keep in mind that most seminar presenters were first speakers at other people's conferences before they started running their own. Seminars are not for beginning infoproducers. 45. Videos Videos are best if you want your customers to actually see how to do something. They are most often used in the information business for How-To products and for demonstrations of a backend product. The biggest problem with videos though are the technical skills required to produce them. If you are planning for your first video, you are better off hiring a cameraperson and professional editor to do the actual technical work for you. Then, you concentrate on the content. The price of the video equipment needed to produce your videos will be much higher than the cost of hiring these individuals to help you with your first few productions. 46. Audio's Audio's were discussed in length above but they bare repeating again. They are an easy way to get started in the information business and the spoken word can often carry a lot more weight and value to the hearers than what is received through the written word in many cases. The other major advantage to audio tapes to some of the other formats available for your information products is the fact that they are easy to listen to. To read a book or watch a video, your customers have to sit down and take time out of their hectic days to learn. Audio tapes can simply be placed in a tape player on the way to work, when you are out for a stroll, or anytime they want. 47. Secret Sites As I travel the Internet, I am noticing more and more "Secret Sites" are developing in all different industries. They basically charge a one-time fee or a monthly fee to have access to constantly updated web pages full of specific targeted information for that market. Secret sites appear to work best when you need to constantly update your customers on new information. Successful models of secret sites I have seen include Internet Marketing, Commodities, Stock Trading, and News. I expect we will see an increase in these types of sites as time progresses and you could be one of the owners. Check out http://www.paperlessnewsletter.com for more information on starting your own paid member site. 48. Newsletters Just because the Internet "Information Superhighway" is growing at an unequaled rate doesn't mean that print media has disappeared. Specialized print newsletters are still flourishing and present a good opportunity for would-be publishers. Newsletter subscription rates run between $30 and $300 per year in general (although I have seen newsletters as high as $4,500 in very specialized areas). If you build a list of 1,000 subscribers, you will be making a very nice income and will have the potential of doing Joint Ventures with other products in your market to your subscribers with awesome results in many cases. 49. Dealer Programs For those of you who would like to start out with a proven information product, there are dealer programs. This is how 98% of us get started in the information business and it gives you the easiest time getting started. You can take someone else's proven product and proven sales letters and start making money immediately. The disadvantage to these programs is that you have to share the money that comes in with the product owner. Something to watch out for in dealer programs though are the high prices some companies are trying to charge just for a right to sell their products. 90% of dealer programs on the web are free to start off and the ones which cost should just be charging a small fee for dealer materials and training. Watch out for HIGH prices on dealer programs! 50. Reprint Rights The next step up from dealer programs are purchasing reprint rights to proven products. Many information producers are now selling reprint rights to many of their products in all different formats. The advantage to this is that you get to keep ALL of the money that comes in. The problem with it is that reprint rights carry a premium price: often $1,000 - $10,000 for each product.
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