The business of information product sales is a good one to get into if you want a venture with low overhead and a large potential to scale quickly. There is also an opportunity to turn the business into an LLC or corporation where the business and its products can be sold and resold; but we are getting ahead of ourselves. You want to learn how to master information product sales, which is where this lesson now begins. If you have skills, training, expertise and incredible drive and you want to help others achieve their goals, you have a future in information product sales. First you need to research, then you need a plan, the next stage is to put your plan into effect so that you can push forth to completion. It sounds simple, but there are many stages in between the information product sales process that must be discussed. Here is a quick rundown of the process and the various stages that comprise them as you build your business from the ground up.
What Are Information Products?
It would help to describe what these products are before we delve deep into the subject of how to master information product sales. An information product is any product that provides or that is comprised of just that – information. It could be a book, an ebook, a series of videos, a folder filled with sound bites, a music creation software program or anything else you can dream up.
To now engage in the business of information product sales, you need at least one product idea, as well as a target market that you will present that product to. Your product should satisfy a pressing need, such as a book that teaches the ins and outs of pay-per-click marketing to help advanced Google Adwords advertisers improve their ad conversions; or a series of software training modules that are designed to help teachers become better educators in their classrooms.
To find the market that is comprised of the most interested parties with the deepest pockets, devise a list of ideas and then search the Internet and the various social networks to determine the viability of the information product sales ideas you have in mind.
Information Product Sales Ideas
Make a long list of products and write them down or put them in a Google Docs blank page. Think outside the box and think of a need you can satisfy with a book, software package or graphic design project. Or you might devise a product idea that combines all three. No matter how crazy your idea or extensive, just put it on the list and make your list as long as you can. Then, get on Google, Facebook and Twitter and start searching for keywords related to your ideas in order to find interested parties and competitors. These elements comprise the market that you will want to target with that particular product idea. Your job is to mine the target market for all the information you can gather for the purposes of keeping or tossing out the idea in question.
The Steps to Master Information Product Sales
Once you have a product idea that you have identified an active market for, the only thing left to do is create and market the idea to the masses.
Step 1: Keep to a Plan: Plan your idea from concept to cashing in, which includes delegating responsibilities and setting deadlines where important processes need to be completed; such as all the writing, design work and PPC ads that will go into advertising the information product sales idea after it goes live.
Step 2: Work and Delegate: You may, like most who master information product sales, opt to have a team of professionals assist you with the creation of your idea instead of deciding to do everything on your own. Use micro-project sites like Fiverr and Tenrr to get your product completed, or hire professionals from freelance sites like Elance and Odesk. Keep to your deadlines and hold regular meetings with your team to ensure that everyone is keeping up to their end of the bargain.
Step 3: Enact a Marketing Plan: You should start planning to market your information product sales idea the moment the creation process begins. You should have a dedicated website, active social media accounts, a video marketing channel and email marketing capabilities to retain and nurture leads once you have enticed them to subscribe.
Step 4: Sell Everywhere: You should always sell your products on a dedicated website so that you get to keep all profits that come in. At the same time, you should never limit your information product sales efforts. Put your products up for sale on ClickBank, one of the biggest online marketplaces for info-products of all types, and other networks and platforms. The more locations you select to sell your products, as long as you have the resources to handle that much sales volume, the more money you will make and the bigger your company can grow.
Step 4: Excel at Customer Service: To master information product sales is really to become excellent at customer service. You must know exactly what your customers want and then you must deliver that value in spades. Then, if a customer ever experiences a problem, you should provide one or more solutions to keep that customer happy and coming back for more.
Step 5: Information Product Sales Creation: Your business will scale infinitely faster if you have more than one product idea on your sales menu. Keep the products coming, but don’t neglect the customers who are purchasing, asking questions about and talking about your current products online. Your business must run like a finely tuned machine; churning out products and keeping all customers, current and prospective, as happy as possible.
Notice how learning to master information product sales involves much more than just writing, design or following other creative pursuits. It involves heavy research, a solid plan, effectively managing a team, keeping obstacles to a minimum and ensuring that your business remains at a constant pace as it flourishes; which, if you think about it, is the goal of any business in any industry.
I’m going to leave you with four very important points that you should keep in mind at all times if you hope to master information product sales and be successful. 1) Your products should stand the test of time and you should be proud enough to stand behind them whenever they may be held up to scrutiny. 2) Your products must be different than all the other products of their kind being sold. 3) Your products must be sold at a price point that isn’t too high or too low, but that is competitive enough to seem attractive to even the most discerning customers. 4) Your products must be of the highest quality and you should do all you can to make sure your products look, read and otherwise perform at their best. Remember those four points and you will always go far.
Image Source: Earthworm on Flickr
CHALLENGE Yourself to Profit!
Free Download: Build Your Profit-Generating Online Business With This Free Blueprint
Sign Up, follow the easy steps and You'll get the tactics, strategies & techniques needed to create your online profit stream. It's free!
