Re: info product empires----- hidden goldmine or hype?

You ask
"why would someone pay me for a report or e-book when they can mozey on over to the public library and research any one of these topics in depth?

People will pay you for information that's timely and suits a need. People don’t buy ebooks and reports based on size, they buy them based on benefits. Also people usually buy a few different titles.

As long as you have think people will just go to the library rather than read your reports, you are better off not creating reports.

It’s not just a question of being able to communicate information. I am sure you can do that.

You have to believe your information helps people. If you think people will be better served by going to the library, you will not be able to convey the benefits of your reports strong enough to get sales, and you won’t feel good about what you are doing.

You also ask about people who sell how to create information empires, and if they are just selling hot air. Some of them are. Look for sales materials that emphasize lifestyle.

One of the reasons many of us end up teaching others how to do what we do is it is a natural extension of what we do.

For example, I teach people how to buy and sell antiques and collectibles. The products I sell are based on my experience.

I have a lot of experience creating and selling information products. Why wouldn’t I do a product about my experiences?

There are a lot of people who jump right into teaching others how to do something without doing it themselves.

Although many people think of this as being “wrong,” this isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Think about this example. If you go to the library and look at crafts books, you’ll see many of the books are written by authors who specialize in writing crafts books.

I doubt the authors do the crafts, but anyone who wants to learn about the crafts can get a good start by reading their books. Do you think Martha Stewart does much more than learn how to do something well enough to demonstrate it in front of a camera?

I doubt it. With all her projects and activities she didn’t have much time to practice things. Think of the effects she has had on millions of people who have learned how to make their homes more pleasant to live in.

The problems occur when people chase dollars. When it becomes more important to get the next sale than to actually have a positive impact on the readers lives.

The fact is most How to Make Money with information products will help people.

Do you need them? Probably not. Jim Straw said he just started doing what he thought was right and learned as he went along.

I started out by acquiring piles of packages by the direct mailers back before the internet. I didn’t really become successful until I stopped buying daydreams and started working.

Let me say that again in another way because it is IMPORTANT.

Most buyers of biz op packages are really buying daydreams. This is why many biz op buyers are serial purchasers. They buy a package, daydream about how successful they will be, and when reality sets in they buy another package rather than getting to work.

I became successful when I started putting in the effort. I had to stop buying information products, and concentrate on earning rather learning.

Terry

PS Someone posted about Frank Kern doing lots of little projects. That was my plan two years ago. In the past 8 months or so I have decided to focus on a few specific niches. Rather than creating products with diverse topics, I am concentrating on a few niches.

Based on my numbers, and my abilities, I doubt I could get 20 different ebooks to each net me $1,000 a month. Too much work promoting each of them to maintain the sales volume. I am better off going back into the same niches where I already have lists of clients, and established affiliate networks, than moving into new niches.

Jack Welch sold off all the lines where GE could not be one of the top two players. His idea was to only compete in markets where GE could dominate. By concentrating on those markets GE was able to solidify its dominance and increase revenues for 15 years.

Concentration paid off for GE. Concentration is paying off for me.