Why And How To Create An Information Product
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Have you put off, or given up entirely, the idea of writing thatbook, or creating a CD or DVD, for your business? Maybe you've
let that idea slip away because you thought your business wasn't
suited to it. I mean, what you do is so individual and personal,
or too complicated to explain, or so intuitive in nature, that it
can't be captured in a product. Or maybe you already sell a
product, and you can't imagine what a book or CD would possibly
do for your business.
These kinds of products- books, CDs, DVDs and their digital
downloadable equivalents: pdfs, mp3s, mpegs - are called
information products, 'info products' for short. And, if you
are putting off creating one, you are doing a disservice to all
the people who are waiting for you.
What's the purpose of having an info product?
Some people will tell you the purpose is to have 'multiple
streams of income' or to 'fill your business to overflowing. '
It's true, a good info product can create these kinds of
results.
But that's not why you create one. If you create it for that
reason, you are chasing the money, and you'll end up chasing
away your customers.
The purpose of an info product is to help the wallflowers.
A wallflower is that term used at dances and other social events
where someone who is feeling a little shy or awkward will take a
seat next to a wall, and plant themselves there, and never get
out on the dance floor.
In junior high I was painfully shy, and lived as a wallflower.
High school wasn't much better, but I was able to retreat into
punk rock and avoid the 'popular' high school scene.
Even today, as my 20th high school reunion approaches, I can find
myself in wallflower situations. I have better coping mechanisms,
but it's still painful.
How many wallflowers are in your business' dance hall?
People who are struggling with something are unsure of
themselves. They are upset, insecure, hesitant. They want to
dance the tango, but they don't want to look foolish and be
rejected.
Do you think it might be easier for those wallflowers if you met
them at their seat with a glass of punch, and talked with them
awhile, before you even asked them to dance?
A good information product doesn't recreate your business to
give the full dance-hall experience. It doesn't deliver the same
intimacy, or the same instruction, or the same in-depth support,
or the same results that your main products or services do.
That's not its job.
The job of a good information product is to help people dance
along off to the side, out of the spotlight. This will not only
help them get some of the results they need, but it will also get
them ready to get out on your dance floor and engage more deeply
with what will really help them: your main products and
services.
And, it's not a bad thing that info products can create a nice
flow of income for you as well.
Ready to deliver that glass of punch and create an info product?
Keys to Creating an Info Product
* What seats are your wallflowers sitting in?
Identify the main hesitations of some of your reluctant
customers. Some common hesitations have to do with:
- Is this weird, or is it normal (do people like me do this?).
- Does it really work?
- Do you really know what you're doing?
- How does it work?
There are others, including ones specific to your business or
industry. Search your heart, and also ask your newest clients
what concerns they had before they purchased from you.
* Where does your record skip?
With new clients or customers and in newly-started classes, you
give them explanations, key ideas, and foundational notions.
These notions may be new to your clients, but you've repeated
each of them 1000 times in different situations.
At a dance, if the record skips, maybe it's a DJ working the
grooves, or maybe it's just a bad scratch. (But you hear it
repeating the same line over and over.)
When you repeat yourself it's like a scratched record- and
you've just found a prime place to focus on a product. Stop the
skipping record, and turn it into a workbook, article, or
recorded audio product.
* Don't forget the how-to's.
In your info product, you want to teach them something, and
include instructions on how to actually do it. But, remember,
that this is a 'getting-ready / dance-along' product, and not
the dance itself.
This means that while you want your how-to's to be complete, and
you expect your reader or listener to apply them to some extent,
don't worry about trying to recreate the dance hall experience.
Because you can't.
Instead ask your heart to show you how much (or how little) they
really need to know to feel comfortable dancing. Lead them up to
the edge of the dance floor, maybe have them dance along to the
music a few steps off to the side. And, believe me, people can
get a lot out of dancing along off to the side.
Then, they'll be ready for the dance hall. And that's when
you'll find your dance card overflowing with new customers and
clients.
Go mix up that punch, and start serving out info products to all
of your wallflowers.
My very best to you and your business,
Mark Silver
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Mark Silver is the author of Unveiling the Heart of Your
Business: How Money, Marketing and Sales can Deepen Your
Heart, Heal the World, and Still Add to Your Bottom Line.
He has helped hundreds of small business owners around
the globe succeed in business without losing their
hearts. Get three free chapters of the book online:
http://www.heartofb usiness.com
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