Next, you need to create an outline of the product that you want to create, and, please, do not be tempted to skip this step in your eagerness to jump right in!

The reason is that you must build your product with a structure in place, otherwise, there is a very good chance that, whilst it may contain all of the information that it should, it will be a mess!

For example, if the product that you plan to create is a written book, then the first thing that you should do is draw up a ‘Table of Contents’.

Doing this will help you to organize your own thoughts and highlight where all of the materials that you have collected together should ‘fit’ in the overall jigsaw-like picture.

This has another advantage too.

Especially if this is your first venture into creating infoproducts, then there is a possibility that you will find the whole creation process can be hard going at times.

You may find that a particular ‘section’ of the book you are writing is just not ‘coming together’ in the way that you want it to, for example.

Do not worry overmuch, as this is a perfectly natural phenomena, (it still happens to me sometimes, even now!) but having a ‘TOC’ in place will allow you to jump ahead to a completely different section, confident that you can return later to the place where you found yourself stuck.

Similarly if you are planning to create a video or audio product, please, do yourself a big favor and write yourself a script.

Otherwise, I can guarantee that you will end up with a video soundtrack or audio recording that is full of ‘ums’ and ‘aahs’ and that is just about the quickest way I know of guaranteeing that your refund rate skyrockets!

And I am guessing that this is something that you do not want, so you must create a workable framework before you go any further, no matter what type of product it is that you are going to create.

SOFTWARE TO USE

Written Materials

The most widely accepted format for producing and publishing written materials for online distribution is in PDF format.

This is also an acceptable way of producing written materials that are intended for offline distribution, if you should choose to go along this route at some later date.

So, once your document is finished, you simply need to convert it to a PDF by using one of the many free tools and resources that are widely available online.

The PDF converter that I personally use is available for free download from PrimoPDF, where you even have the option of ‘testing’ the system by creating a PDF document online.

However, assuming that you are going to become a regular PDF creator, simply download and install the program and then, when you are ready to make the conversion, press “Print” with your document open on-screen.

Check the list of printer options that your computer offers you and you should find that one is PrimoPDF.

Click that, follow the directions and a minute or so later, you should have your PDF document ready for distribution!

Audio Recording

If you are planning to create an audio version of your product (which would be perfect for podcasting, for example) then there really is no need at all to spend money of any fancy software to make the recordings for you.

A great little program called Audacity is all that you need, and you can get it entirely free from the Audacity website.

Download the software and install it on your computer (if you need any further help, especially about the best ways of using the program, there are a couple of great training resources)

Now, the chances are that you will want to use Audacity to make MP3’s of any audio that you record, and to do this, you will also need to download and install the Lame MP3 encoder.

Now all you need is a cheap headphone and mike set, and you’re good to go.

Interview Recording

Skype is a wonderful program, one that allows you to make computer to computer phone calls anywhere in the world for free.

Unfortunately, the biggest problem with it always used to be that the calls you made could not easily be recorded, so it was not especially helpful for online interview recordings.

However, there are now several such recorders, programs like the excellent free MX Skype Recorder. You simply download and install the program and start it before you begin your Skype call, and it will record every word for you.

Most importantly, it records everything that both parties say, and then, at the end of the call, it converts it all into an MP3 file, ready for broadcast!

Quick simple, effective and most importantly of all, entirely free!

NOTE: Recording calls is legally restricted in certain countries, states and localities around the world. It is your responsibility to understand and comply with any laws that may apply to you or the person you are calling.

Video Editing

If you are planning to use video as part of your infoproduct ‘package’ then you may need to buy some software in order to get the raw video materials from your recording device to your PC. Once it is there, however, then the editing software that you need is free.

In fact, when it comes to free video editing software (for PCs) there are few programs that are appreciably better than Windows own Movie Maker software program.

Here are some of the options:

Ebook
Newsletter or eZine Podcast
Audio Book
Audio Site Content
Audios on CD
Videos on CD/DVD
Video Site Content
Blog Materials
Teleseminars
Online Training Materials
Home Study Course
A Combination of Some/All of The Above

Fundamentally, in all of the cases above, you have three options. You must choose whether you want to release your infoproducts as written materials, spoken or audiovisual.

So, what skills do you have?

Can you write well enough to create an ebook or to feel confident enough to publish your infoproduct in a newsletter or ezine?

Now, one thing that many people who are creating their first infoproduct do is let what they perceive to be their own lack of ability to stand in the way of them getting the job done.

Do not worry so much that this is you!

You are not writing to win the Pulitzer Prize here, nor are we trying to elevate you to being the next Shakespeare or Walt Whitman.

All you need to be able to do is write clearly and lucidly enough to get your information across to your reader.

That is your sole objective, and, once that is achieved, that is your job done.

Many leading internet business people are pretty poor writers, and, indeed, one or two very famous people actually make jokes at their own expense because of it!

Their grammar is Junior High School poor and their spelling skills are non-existent and yet they are still multi-millionaires because the ideas behind the products that they create are so strong and compelling.

Do not allow what you believe to be a lack of writing talent to act as an excuse for doing nothing.

The only guarantee that never getting off your backside to do something brings is one of never making any money either!

Having said all of that some folks are just better speakers than they are writers.

If you feel that you fall into this category, then using some form of audio based content for your infoproduct may the way to go.

It is not really that relevant exactly how you choose to get that content out into the big wide world right now.

What matters is that you make your decision one way or the other, and then commit to doing whatever it takes to make what you just decided to do actually happen.

Incidentally, you do not need any fancy audio recording software or equipment for recording audio content that is of perfectly acceptable quality.

Everything that you need (except the microphone) can be picked up for free, as you will discover later.

Maybe you fancy being a video star?

Whilst for the majority of people, appearing in front of a video camera is really something that they would rather not contemplate, nevertheless, there are others who do genuinely enjoy it, and often seem to be natural performers as well.

If you are one of these people, then maybe you would like to use video as the means by which you bring your product to the market?

That’s great, and, once again, there is no need to spend money on expensive video software in order to achieve the results that you want.

You do, however, need some way of recording your video, whether it be a video camera or a webcam that is attached directly to your computer that enables you to record directly to your desktop or laptop.

Many mobile or handphones now come with in-built cameras that are capable of recording short video clips now as well, although generally speaking, the quality of the recordings is still not that high.

So, if you are looking to try to publish high definition videos, then maybe the inbuilt recorder on your handphone is probably not going to be quite good enough.

The perfect scenario would, of course, be that you publish your infoproduct in all of the different formats.

This will allow you to broaden the appeal of your product, as it can now satisfy all of the different ‘types’ of customers that you hope to reach (some folks prefer to read, whilst others like to watch or listen).

It also allows you to charge more for a packaged product too, as a product ‘bundle’ that contains not only an ebook, but audios, videos and perhaps work sheets as well is perceived as having a far greater value than the ebook alone.

The key point to note with all of these different options is that, once the content has been created, then all you are doing is repackaging the same materials in lots of different ways.

There might be very little or no difference between what is written in the ebook and what is spoken of the audio or ‘acted’ on the video, although anything ‘extra’ that you are able to pack on to the audio or video presentations will certainly add additional value to the overall package.

Expert Interviews

One type of infoproduct that has become increasingly popular over the last few years is the expert or guru interview.

This is a situation where you find an expert in a particular market section or niche, and you call them up, interview them, record it and then publish the results.

Such a product model is popular for several reasons, the main one of which being that it is so simple and easy to create.

All you need to do is prepare a list of questions that you can ask your expert. Preferably they should be questions that they have not faced a million times before, ones that therefore allow what they say to have real value to the people listening to the recorded call.

Now, the obvious question to ask is, why would an expert be willing to do this?

For couple of reasons is the answer.

Firstly, most of these guys (and girls) will expect paying for their services, although that would not normally be enough on its own to get them to do it.

The main reason is that, if you have your ‘sales pitch’ planned well in advance, you will be able to tell them just who is going to hear this call when they ask you, as they inevitably will.

Make sure that you emphasize that the contents of the call are going to be heard by people who are new to them, people who have not so far had an opportunity to buy the products and services that your particular expert is selling, and that will probably be enough to convince them that the idea is a good one.

So, the hardest job for you is to work out who those people might be.

If you have a reasonable sized mailing list of your own, then it should be no problem for you – you are going to give the call away to all of your list members, and that is exactly the answer that your ‘expert’ friend wants to hear!

If you don’t have a list, then you will just have to get creative!

It will be worth it, because this kind of infoproduct is becoming massively popular, and, if you can be one of the first to interview this particular expert, then that will be a big step towards establishing your name and credibility in your market niche.

Content is basically the ‘stuff’ that you are going to fill your infoproduct with.

It could be materials that you write yourself, or articles and other written information that you collect together whilst researching.

It could be video or audio materials that you create or find.

Whatever the content that you are going to fill your infoproduct with is, it has to come from somewhere!

This is the question that I am just about to address, and answer for you.

However, because the majority of this article is primarily concerned with working online, let me just give you one small hint or reminder before moving on.

Offline Content Research

Believe it or not, not all of the information in the world is available online. Indeed, given the sheer weight and depth of learning and education over the centuries, it is almost certain that there will never come a time when everything is available online.

So, there are thousands and thousands of content research materials that you can access offline, if you are willing to take the time and trouble to do so.

For example, old-fashioned libraries, those big buildings filled with books that less and less people seem to frequent nowadays, are absolute treasure stores of priceless information.

Even magazines and daily newspapers sometimes carry stories and articles that you can use in any infoproduct that you might be creating.

Now, a valid question here might be, given that there is so much available online, why should I bother looking any further?

And the answer is, because no-one else is doing so!

What is available online generally only skims the depths of the knowledge that is widely and freely available in the real world.

Thus, by using offline resources as well, you are giving yourself a significantly higher chance of producing an infoproduct of significantly higher quality, something that is perhaps even genuinely unique.

So, if you have the time and/or the inclination, there is a huge world of content out there that you simply cannot access from your computer.

Online Content Searching

There are literally dozens of ways that you can search all over the internet for content materials for your infoproduct.

Here are a few of the key places that you should be looking:

Search Engines – Armed with your keywords, you can start by heading over to the big search engines like Google, to see what a key word related search will turn up.

Depending on exactly what key word or phrase you are using, such a ‘broad’ search will often generate millions of results, which might not always be that helpful.

There are a couple of things that you can do that should help to filter some of these extraneous results out, so that what is left is perhaps going to be more helpful to you.

Firstly, if you are using a two or perhaps even three word key phrase as the basis of your search, add quotation marks to the phrase before you search it.

So, if I were searching on the phrase hot cross buns, I would type in “hot cross buns”.

This would return an ‘exact phrase’ match, and any search results that only matched one or two words would be filtered.

Perhaps you have some other search requirements that are dictated by the product that you plan to create.

Maybe, for example, your product will only be marketable in the USA, and therefore, it might make sense that all of the content was derived from US sources too.

In that case, use the ‘Advanced Search’ feature of the Google search engine (you will find something very similar at Yahoo, MSN and all other search engines too).

Another trick that you can use when searching Google is adding the search string phrase “allinurl:” before your search term.

So, again, using this search string with the phrase hot cross buns, I would type as follows:

This action reduces a total of 742000 Google searches down to an infinitely more manageable 1740, all of which are supertargeted to exactly what I am looking for.

Article Directories – There are hundreds of article directory sites, places where authors will submit their works for publication as a way of generating visitors and back links for their websites. These directories are therefore great places to find lots of source articles with which to work. The two that are best known and most widely used are EzineArticles and GoArticles.

There are essentially two options that you have open to you working with the materials that you find on these sites.

The first option is that you can download the articles as they are and use them as-is, but if you do so, you must include the original authors resource box (that is, the box at the foot of the article that contains their personal information and website address).

If you do not do so, than that’s called plagiarism, and a very serious breach of internet marketing protocol, if not actually against the law!

Option two is that you collect together a bunch of these articles, read them through a few times and then re-write them in your own words. This way, you do not include anyone else’s details in your infoproduct (which just invites people to leave!) and the content is yours, written in your own words.

For me, there can be little doubt that, if you have the time and the ability, option two is always the best way to go.

Ezine or Newsletter Directories – Like article directories, many people submit their written works to ezine and newsletter publishers, so that they can include them in the next edition of their journal that they email out to their list members.

Video Sites – If possible, do not focus your research efforts entirely upon the written word. That is what most other internet marketers who are searching for content are going to do too, so try to think a little bit differently, if possible

For example, the leading video sites like YouTube and Google Video are rich sources of ideas, although they may not actually provide content materials that you can ‘lift’ directly, as article and ezine directories might.

Use these ideas to spin off your own content materials, whether you choose to create written materials or decide to be a little more adventurous by making your own videos

You should not, however, make the mistake that the vast majority of online marketers do, that of forgetting or ignoring offline markets.

The world has 6 billion people, and over 1 billion are currently online.

Which means that 5 billion people are not online and have no internet access at all!

Why would you choose to ignore this vast market place?

So, later on, there is absolutely no reason why you cannot ‘package’ the infoproduct that you create to sell it into this huge, huge market of people who do not actually have internet access.

At this stage, however, you should be researching the offline markets too, to establish whether there are hungry buyers for your product out there in the ‘real world’ as well.

You can investigate what is going on by looking in sources like newspaper headlines, weekly gossip magazine headlines, and on TV, radio, billboard advertising and so on.

Also, go to your local bookstore and look at magazines that relate to your topic, paying particularly close attention to the ads.

If you go to your public library, you can read back issues as well. Look to see whether certain advertisers have purchased advertising space in previous issues as well?

When dollars are being spent on advertising consistently, you can bet that there is a market.

Don’t simply assume that the only place you will find ideas is on the web, and don’t ignore the fact that it is where almost everyone else is looking too.

The fact is that the offline world better reflects what people are really concerned, worried or interested about, and you should pay heed to what those fears and worries can tell you.

Ideal Customer Characteristics

Just for a moment, think about the qualities or characteristics of the people that you are looking for, too. These are hopefully going to be your customers, and it will pay you to know what makes them ‘tick’.

You want customers who:

• Are passionate
• Have money
• Are willing to spend that money
• Will be repeat buyers
• Are insatiable
• Are reachable
• Are already interested
• Are already motivated
• And are already predisposed to buy

There is no secret method that will help you find these people, unfortunately, but as you develop relationships with you customers over time, it will do no harm to try to ‘check off’ more and more boxes as you go along.

That way, you know that both you and your business are heading in the right direction!

Here are several ways that you can establish this.

Keyword research – Search for keyword phrases that directly relate to your market niche, in order to establish whether they’re being searched, and therefore whether they are valuable or not. You should also search for ‘need’ phrases like:

How-to
Alleviate
Stop
Discover
Cure
Quit
Learn and other similar words and phrases.

This will help you zero in on the topics that searchers have already demonstrated a hunger for. This keywords search will tell you whether there is a problem that your potential customers need answers for. If so, then you’re on the right track to identifying a great product idea. Use keyword research tools like these:

Good Keywords
Google Adwords Keyword Tool
WordTracker’s Keyword Tool

And of course your Google Assassin Keyword Tool.

eBay Pulse – is a goldmine of “current trend” information that shows all of the top items of interest in each category on the worlds #1 auction site. eBay Pulse is therefore extremely valuable for helping identify what people are searching for and then hoping to buy. Another excellent tool for extracting research information from eBay is the Hot Item Finder which tells you what the most regular searches carried out by eBay customers are, by revealing the items with the highest number of bids, determined by your own inputted keywords.

Yahoo Answers – People visit Yahoo Answers to get, well, answers to questions that they cannot find anywhere else. Thus, it is a great site to see what people are asking about. Search the site using the keywords that you have already collected together. It is even better if you can actually start getting involved by answering other folk’s questions, as this once again begins establishing your credibility as an expert on your topic, whilst starting to create relationships as well.

Forums – Spending time looking around in online forums which are in some way related to your niche can be time well spent. Pay particular attention to the questions being asked. Note them down, because once again they give you clues as to the types of things that people need to know, and the solutions they are seeking. Make an effort to contribute as well, because this helps to start building your reputation as an authority, a ‘go-to’ guy (or girl) that others can rely on. You are also starting to create relationships with your potential target audience too! You can find a massive list of forum sites covering all sorts of niche markets and topics at Big Boards.

Search Engines – Run searches based on your topic keywords in all of the major search engines like Google, Yahoo and MSN. Assuming that you are using a one or two word search term, this is likely to throw up massive numbers of results, but that is only relevant in so far as it proves that people are searching for your topic in the most general terms. It is definitely not telling you that they are genuinely hungry buyers and that they will buy your infoproduct. If, however, no-one is searching using your key words or phrase, then that definitely tells you that there is no market, and you should possibly go back to the drawing board! This is the main reason that you should run this quick check.

Social Networking Sites – Leading social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook are the places where people from all over the world ‘meet’ to chat. Not entirely surprisingly, they chat about the things that interest them most, so by ‘listening in’ and getting involved, you can pick up huge amounts of information about what is ‘hot’ and what is not!

Clickbank – Clickbank’s Marketplace is the biggest depository of digital products for sale online. With over 10000 products available, a keywords based search of the site will quickly show you whether anyone else already has an infoproduct targeted at the niche you are aiming for. If there is anyone already in there, however, do not panic! Competition is always healthy, and this will allow you to look at what others are already doing, to see how you can improve on it!

CBEngine – Another cool little Clickbank related resource is a site called CBEngine, which gives you access to an outstanding list of ‘up-and-coming’ Clickbank products to keep an eye on. In other words, this tells you what is going to be popular on Clickbank’s main site in the coming weeks and months.

Incidentally, if you do not have a Clickbank account at the moment, then you need to open one right away, as this is going to be one of the key sales channels that need to utilize once your infoproduct goes live.

To begin, you need to evaluate the markets that you are interested in, rather than looking at specific products within those markets.

If the market as a whole is not one where people who spend money can be found, then you know that you are wasting your time almost immediately.

For example, there are some very broad market categories where people have been spending money since money was first invented thousands of years ago!

This has absolutely nothing at all to do with the internet, and everything to do with the nature of human beings, so the pattern is not likely to alter any time soon.

These are the ‘subjects that sell’:

• Sex
• Love
• Power
• Immortality
• Wealth
• Happiness
• Safety
• Health
• Recognition

Do any of your top ideas ‘match’ anything in this grouping?

If so, then it has probably just stolen to the number one spot on you list.

Okay, now we will sort your ideas still further by referring to another list, one that is more internet specific. These are some of the most regularly searched categories of products that people are seeking through the internet search engines:

• Cosmetics,
• fragrances,
• accessories,
• jewelry,
• art,
• paintings,
• cars,
• books,
• marketing,
• employment,
• clothing,
• commerce.

Do any of your initial ideas fit in here? If so, that’s great.

If not, it’s no problem either.

Remember what I said earlier about your first attempt to brainstorm a list?

Now that you have a much clearer idea of what it is that we are trying to do and what you are looking for, take a break, then go back and brainstorm again.

And I am willing to wager that, this time, your list will be pure gold!

]]> http://www.stevearun.com/674/researching-your-ideas-for-profits/feed/ 0 http://www.stevearun.com/672/finding-the-hot-trend-market/ http://www.stevearun.com/672/finding-the-hot-trend-market/#comments Sun, 25 Jul 2010 05:54:03 +0000 Steve http://www.stevearun.com/?p=672 The fact that you are reading this article proves that you are an internet user.

So, assuming that you spend some time looking at websites, you may already have a few initial thoughts about an infoproduct that you believe will sell well.

That’s great, but, please, do not jump straight in at the deep end without doing a little more research, because, as I’ve already suggested, this first phase of the infoproduct creation process is the most fundamentally important.

Get it wrong now, and every subsequent step must inevitably go wrong too.

So, keep your idea firmly in mind, but work through this step by step process before moving ahead.

If nothing else, doing so will prove whether your idea will stand up or not!

Let me also remind you once again that your initial objective is to establish what information hungry buyers might be looking for.

Here are the first few steps that you are going to take in order to start addressing that question:

Brainstorm, List & Order

Remember that one of my ‘4 Deadly Mistakes’ was producing a product that you have fallen in love with and really want to create, rather than making something that hungry buyers are looking for?

Well, that is definitely something that you should not do, but that does not mean you should not try to make a product that you are at least interested in.

Of course, there is nothing to stop you from making a product that you know nothing about and have little or no interest in at all but, especially is this is your first infoproduct, then that is probably not a good idea, for two reasons,

Firstly, it is a lot harder to create a product that you have no real interest in. It requires a lot more work researching the content materials and putting the product together, so there is a good chance that you will just lose interest somewhere along the way, and not actually finish the job.

It’s much too ambitious for your first project, and far more likely to cause you to lose interest and then heart.

Secondly, the most effective sales people, online or off, always believe in their products and have an enthusiasm about them that shines through everything that they do. After all, if you do not believe in your product, then how can you expect others to?

The fact is that if you are disinterested, then you just will not sell many, and how will that make you feel!

So, first time out, it is probably quite critical for your chances of long term success that you create a product that you can get enthused about.

The first thing to do is to sit down and do some serious brainstorming, but, before you do, allow me to inject a slight note of caution.

Effective brainstorming is something of an art form, and is not as easy as you might imagine it to be. It is, in fact, something that you must learn and then improve on through practice; something, in other words, that you may not get exactly right the first time you try it.

So, I am asking you to brainstorm, but be prepared for the possibility that your first attempt may not be all that successful, in terms of the amount and quality of the results that you generate.

For example, you may find that at the end of the brainstorming and ‘filtering’ process that you end up with a short list with absolutely nothing on it!

Please, do not be discouraged, or believe that you have somehow failed. That is simply not the case.

Just go back and do it again, and, if my experience is anything to go by, I can almost guarantee that you will be far more successful the second time around!

So, having dispensed with that cautionary note, grab a nice clean piece of paper and a pencil, sit down and brainstorm as many possible subjects for your brand new infoproduct as you possibly can.

This is not a logical, analytical process we are talking about.

It is totally ‘open season’ – whatever it is that comes into your head, write it down.

I want you to literally empty your head of every idea that it may contain, no matter how strange or unlikely they may appear to be.

Do not try to rationalize or think about the things that you are coming out with.

Do not worry whether they are ideas that you know anything about, or whether they are topics that you really do not have the first inkling about!

The idea is to have a piece of paper in front of you, and to fill it as fast as you can with as near as you can possibly achieve to a stream of pure ideas.

Come up with as many ideas as possible, and do not give up until you are exhausted!

Okay, take a break (you’re exhausted, remember!) and then we’ll set about doing some filtering.

Rested?

Good, let’s move on to the next stage, that is, bringing some degree of order to your list of (let’s assume for arguments sake) 40 ideas.

This is important, because after doing this, you will need to do some research, and doing that for 40 different subjects is going to be an awful lot of hard work.

It will be far better if you can narrow your starting point down to just two or three potential topics, before you move on.

Here is how I would suggest that you should start filtering your ideas and thoughts:

• Assuming that you are not yet in a position to pay someone else to create your product for you, then you have to do the work yourself. Move the ideas that you know most about to the top of the list.
• Are there any ideas that, on reflection, appear to be uninspiring, unattractive, or even downright boring? If you feel that way mere moments after these ideas came to you, then the chances are that you are very probably right! Move them to the bottom of the list.
• Is the subject matter in question something that you feel that you can really do full justice to? Are you going to be able to produce a product that is packed with great information, or something that has only one central idea, that you then have to pad out with filler? If it’s the latter, move it down to somewhere near the bottom.
• Remember the fictitious target customer who we created earlier. Try to imagine what they might think of the product ideas on your list? That might seem like a slightly silly notion, but it is not, for one reason. When most folks try to imagine their one ‘target’ person, the majority will (perhaps unwittingly) think of a real person! So, take the image of the real person and decide, and, if they wouldn’t like it, then drop it down.

Having done all of this, you should hopefully have sorted most of the good ideas out from the non-starters.

]]> http://www.stevearun.com/672/finding-the-hot-trend-market/feed/ 0 http://www.stevearun.com/670/how-to-get-sales-from-desperate-buyers/ http://www.stevearun.com/670/how-to-get-sales-from-desperate-buyers/#comments Wed, 21 Jul 2010 05:22:55 +0000 Steve http://www.stevearun.com/?p=670 Under most normal circumstances, the initial thing that you must do before beginning to create your first infoproduct is to find whether there is any market for it (‘hungry buyers’).

Before you start doing this, however, allow me to let you into a little secret that very few marketers either acknowledge or truly take advantage of.

Sometimes, you do not need to have an idea for your infoproduct at all, and you can still make an absolute fortune selling it!

That is because, in some situations, it is simply a question of finding the right market, and the product to sell will become immediately obvious.

This is because some folks do not just want or need a solution to their problems, they are absolutely desperate to find one!

And the very nature of such desperate markets tells you exactly what infoproducts you need to create.

For example, if someone has chronic bronchitis, them what they desperately need is a way to get rid of their bronchitis, or at least something that can stop them from coughing!

Similarly, a chronic pain sufferer is desperate for some way of getting rid of their pain.

Now, I know that for some marketers, the notion of selling on the back of people’s desperation will make them feel uncomfortable or a little uneasy.

It need not do so.

I am not necessarily equating desperate with tragic or disaster, although of course that may sometimes be the case.

For example, it could be someone who had hundreds of dollars worth of furniture destroyed by their clawing cats. Would you imagine that this person will be desperate to stop their cat clawing the furniture?

All you need to do is show them how to stop the cat doing what it keeps doing, and you have a sale.

If your dog keeps you awake each and every night with his constant howling, then I would suggest that you are probably desperate for an infoproduct that will show you how you can stop him doing it so that you can get a good night rest!

I am talking about people who desperately need information about something that may, in itself, not be that tragic or indeed appear to be that desperate to other folks at all.

Now, it is only fair that I should counter-balance this argument and admit that sometimes people do find themselves in truly tragic circumstances, and that their desperation to discover answers is far more pressing.

You may be able to provide the answers that they need, and then only you can decide whether you feel comfortable making money from being able to provide such a service.

But, the bottom line is that, for what ever reason, most internet marketers do not seek out desperate markets, and they should, because there is a lot of money to be made by providing solutions that people are desperate for.

But, one final note of caution.

If you are planning to create an infoproduct to sell into desperate markets, please use not only a degree of tact and sympathy when it is required, but also some common sense!

Yes, people who are suffering great pain and in the final stages of something as genuinely awful as terminal cancer might be interested in your product about how to alleviate that pain.

But, before you make a dash for the online version of their front door to complete the sale, there are two things that I would ask you to think about.

One, your product must, in all conscience, truly and genuinely help that person.

Two, and on a more practical level, sure, they might buy it if it costs them $27, but at $69, you can probably forget it!

In a similar vein, I have lost count of how many times over the years that I have seen $267 products that teach people how to dig themselves out of debt.

Err, excuse me, but…………

These folks are deep in debt!! Do you think that they have a spare $267 just sitting around doing nothing?

Obviously not, so how many are you going to sell?

So, all I will say is this. It is important to understand that are such things as desperate markets and that such markets will tell you what your infoproduct should be.

And, no doubt, you can make a lot of money this way.

Nevertheless, please do not callously choose to ignore the fact that there are degrees of desperation as well, and that you must draw the line in the sand somewhere.

]]> http://www.stevearun.com/670/how-to-get-sales-from-desperate-buyers/feed/ 0 http://www.stevearun.com/667/the-1-key-to-infoproduct-success/ http://www.stevearun.com/667/the-1-key-to-infoproduct-success/#comments Sat, 17 Jul 2010 10:32:34 +0000 Steve http://www.stevearun.com/?p=667 Four Simple ‘Game Rules’

Sometimes, it seems to me that many internet marketers must really believe in fairy stories, judging by the number of folk who seem to think that being in business online is somehow fundamentally different to doing business in the real world.

It is not.

In both situations, there is one golden rule that always determines the success or failure of a product.

Does the product that the business creates and markets satisfy a need that potential buyers have?

Do people want (or need) to buy it?

From this, it is transparently clear that there are absolutely no secrets to creating and marketing a million-dollar infoproduct either.

It is nothing more than a straightforward four step process:

• Find a hungry niche
• Discover what they are hungry for (what they want)
• Give it to them
• Keep them coming back for more

It really is that simple and straightforward, but the central key, the one thing that you cannot get wrong, is that the product must satisfy the wants of hungry buyers.

Do that right, and you will have a huge success on your hands.

It is for that reason that I am going to spend a good deal of time on making sure that you know how to find your hungry markets, before you go any further.

Look at the four ‘game rules’ above one more time, and then consider this.

If the ‘rules’ are so simple, why is everyone who is playing not already a winner?

Or, how come every online business person is not already a multi-millionaire?

Still more critically, how is it that over 95% of new internet businesses never make enough money to buy a cup of coffee every day?

And Four Foolish Mistakes

Here are the four biggest and most fundamental errors that people make to ruin their chances of ever making it big:

MISTAKE 1: The first reason that the overwhelming majority of people will fail is because they do not actually even realize that there are any rules in this ‘game’ and the importance of trying to stick to them.

They are people who genuinely believe that to make money online, you need to know the secret formula or have some kind of wondrous ‘insider knowledge’ in order to succeed.

It is simply not true, but by approaching their first online business project already convinced that this is the truth they are already admitting to themselves that they don’t have what it takes to make it big!

They have already doomed themselves to inevitable failure before they even get started!

Success does not come because of tricks or insider knowledge,

It comes because you appreciate that there is a simple ‘plan’ or ‘system’ that you need to work to, and from knowing what that plan is and sticking to it.

MISTAKE 2: Note from the ‘rules’ that you should be selling information that people want rather than what they need.

Now, very often, this will amount to one and the same thing, in which case, that makes things considerably easier.

But, never forget that the vast majority of buying decisions are made based on emotional conditioning and responses, rather than because of anything that is logical or well thought out.

It is only after an emotion-driven purchase is completed that most human beings will try to justify what they have already done by claiming that it was a considered, logical and well thought through decision from the very beginning.

When there is a choice to be made, always try to create a product that appeals to people’s emotions, and make them want to buy it. You will be far more successful if you do.

MISTAKE 3: Another reason that people fail is that they take no time to think about the person that they are selling to.

Note that I said person, rather than people.

That is because when you are creating your infoproduct, you must hold a clear picture in your mind of the specific customer that you are going to try to sell it to.

As the saying would have it, try to sell to everybody and you will end up selling to nobody.

You need to focus on exactly who your customer will be and, trust me, if you get this ‘step’ of the plan ‘right’, your project is almost guaranteed to succeed before you even start.

So, for example, say that you decided to create an automobile relate infoproduct.

You decide to target it at people who are ‘interested’ in automobiles, on the basis that these folk form some kind of homogenous group, and that they are all the same.

They clearly are not.

Do you, for example think that the middle aged, married-withtwo-kids-and-a-dog Oldsmobile driver is exactly the same type of consumer as the teenager buzzing around in his old twoseater sports model?

Of course they are not, so why try to treat them the same?

All you will create by doing so is a product that falls somewhere between what these two vastly different consumer types might want, so neither of them will buy!

Focus on who you want to sell your infoproduct to at all times.

Even go so far as to create a picture in your mind of everything that you can know about them – their age, where they live their job and so on.

The more effectively you can visualize your customer, the more you will do everything you can to create a product that will sell to that one person. Then, the more successful you will be because of it!

MISTAKE 4: This drives me crazy, and is really something you should never, ever allow yourself to do.

You know now that there are only four tiny, easy steps that you need to take to create a drop-dead killer infoproduct.

Find what people want, sell it to them and keep them coming back for more. That is it, finished!

However, what many people do is take those rules and bend them to what they want the rules to be. Then, they eventually end up trying to sell a product that they wanted to create, rather than one that anyone really wanted to buy!

This is such a basic, fundamental error to make that it should not even bear repeating, in truth, but it is something that I see so many people doing that it drives me nuts!

If you know what the market wants, build it and sell it to them, for crying out loud!

Don’t try to give them something that is ‘nearly’ what they want, simply because this allows you to create a product that you find interesting or stimulating.

If the people who you are trying to convince to get their credit cards out of their wallets agreed with your judgment, then you would know that already, wouldn’t you?

The fact is that what you have just created is not what they want at all – it is your ‘interpretation’ of what they should want, colored by your own beliefs, desires and prejudices.

So, it is what they don’t want, really, isn’t it?

Does it make sense to you that you should waste your time and effort building something that no-one wants, especially when you know the rules of the game already?

Well, just in case you said ‘yes’, let me tell you – not to me it doesn’t, and nor will it to you when you make no sales!

]]> http://www.stevearun.com/667/the-1-key-to-infoproduct-success/feed/ 0 http://www.stevearun.com/663/what-is-info-product-and-why-should-i-create-it/ http://www.stevearun.com/663/what-is-info-product-and-why-should-i-create-it/#comments Tue, 13 Jul 2010 10:13:32 +0000 Steve http://www.stevearun.com/?p=663 Info product marketing may be the greatest equalizer of all. It allows you to gain status, build a list and enjoy higher margins on all your efforts.

It also made a huge change in our business when we realized how easily the blueprint below allows you to incentivize affiliate marketing purchases.

Imagine this simple example: you are selling an acne cream system on Pay Per Click Marketing.

You are doing ok but the competition is fierce and everyone is running at the same customer base with the same product.

The result is that the sales are divided between the lot. Conversions are low and margins are thin.

Now imagine that you can offer the same customer a bonus that essentially costs you zero dollars since it is transmitted in a file by email.

This bonus can be highly valuable while costing you nothing. It also means that you raise high above the herd of other sellers because they customers have a unique reason to buy from you.

Better yet, they must give you their email address for you to fulfill their bonus, which means you can capture the list of buyers and sell to them again and again.

This is how a list is built. And that is only the tip of the iceberg in terms of the increased profitability and cash windfalls you will experience when you start on your journey towards your very own Info Product Profits.

Why Create Infoproducts?

The answer to this is remarkably simple and straightforward.

You should create them because infoproducts are what people want to buy!

Now, being 100% accurate, this is not strictly true.

What people want is information, and for many folks all over the world, the internet is the first place they go in order to find it.

Obviously, human nature being what it is, if they can pick this information up for free, without paying anything for it, then the chances are that they would much prefer to do so!

At the same time, however, with over a billion people worldwide now reported to have regular access to the internet, web surfers are gradually becoming more knowledgeable about what they will find online.

Consequently, more and more people are starting to appreciate what most internet marketers have known for a long time, and that is that most free ‘stuff’ is free for a reason.

And that is because the vast majority of materials those are given away free are almost always useless, and of little or no value to anyone.

The vast majority of the free information that is widely available really does not ‘inform’ you of anything.

And, on the rare occasion when these free materials do carry valuable information, there is usually some kind of ‘catch’ or hurdle that you have to leap over to get a hold of it.

Maybe it is ‘half story’ information, for example, where a mail that you receive gives you half of the information that you want, with the rest not being available unless and until you buy the product that the business behind the mail are selling.

Another common alternative might be that, in order to get a free report, you have to join a mailing list.

This then gives the marketer behind the ‘free information’ the opportunity of making sales pitches to you for ever more!

So, as the old saying says, there is no such thing as a free lunch, and more and more people recognize this as the truth every day.

Nevertheless, people still need and want information and, although they would like to get it free, there is an increasing realization that the most valuable information is never going to be given away for nothing!

Thus it is that good quality infoproducts are in ever-increasing demand on a global basis.

All you need to do is create a product or products to satisfy this demand, this widespread thirst for knowledge, and you have just availed yourself of the key to making a very significant income online.

Now, this being your first attempt at creating your own online product, it might appear to be a daunting task right at this minute, correct?

Would it therefore surprise you to know that there are many online entrepreneurs who can produce a seemingly endless stream of such products, relentlessly churning out one after another, almost on a daily basis (or so it seems)?

And that most importantly, almost every one of these people manages to make very reasonable amounts of money by doing so?

The number one reason that they can do this, seemingly without any noticeable effort, is that they have a system in place, and they work to it.

So, whether you plan to create just one infoproduct or one thousand, it is extremely important that you do exactly the same, and adopt a systematic approach right from the start.

This will be a key ingredient of your success, because it will help you to avoid falling into the entirely understandable traps that blight so many new infoproduct creators.

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