I think of the above proverb when I am tempted to kick myself for not learning about information product marketing earlier. I wish I had started twenty years ago rather than recently. However, I am glad I started because creating my first information product (Choosing Your Career: Proven Strategies for a Satisfying Life) has been a very rewarding experience.
When I was first deciding whether I wanted to write a book, one of the people whose writing convinced me to forge ahead was Melanie Jordan, author of What You Know Is Worth More Than You Know!™ . Jordan is an infopreneur: an entrepreneur who earns money by selling information products. One thing I really like about Jordan is that she seems like a real person. She isn’t some infomercial guru spouting hype and offering to teach you how to sell snake oil so that you can make a fortune from gullible buyers.
Jordan makes an extremely persuasive case that infopreneuring is an empowering way to earn a living and that everyone is an expert about something. Infopreneuring is open to people of all ages (no forced retirement!), you can live anywhere and work from home, the cost of entry is low, profit margins are high, there is unlimited income potential, and you can launch your infopreneur business in your free time from the safety of your current job. If you never want to quit your current job, you can use infopreneur income to pay for a child’s college tuition, fund vacations, augment retirement, or contribute to worthy causes.
Jordan doesn’t make any “get rick quick” promises, but she does assure you that she can shorten your learning curve because she can warn you about a lot of the rookie mistakes that aspiring infopreneurs make. She recommends offering products in several different formats rather than sticking to just one favored choice, and she encourages infopreneurs to offer a full line of offerings from free to expensive.
The book includes chapters on choosing your infopreneur topic, deciding on which product mix to create and sell, how to team up with others for mutual benefit, and building your infopreneur brand. Jordan gives specific tips about technical details like creating a blog and/or website, building an opt-in list (a database of potential customers), knowing when and how to cross-sell and up-sell, and how to effectively leverage both traditional and social media.
What You Know Is Worth More Than You Know!™ has so much information packed into it, it might feel overwhelming. My advice is to start small. Use the advice to create something and then build from there. While it could take some time to develop a full product and service line offering, if you start today, you will accomplish more than if you wait a few years for the “perfect” time to launch.
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