Advice on moving to the next level with an info product?

5 replies
Hi All,

I've got a few sites, ranging from some AdSense blogs to phpBay sites and I've gotten to making a few hundred bucks each month with little to no effort. However, I really hate my current day job and need to move to the "next level" and after spending some time here, I am going to try my hand at building a list, creating an info product/report/ebook, and selling it.

I think I have a niche figured-out and have a domain/etc. But now, the engineer in me is coming-out and I'm wondering what the best approach is. I know that I need to just "make a bold move" and try something, but I cannot help doing *some* research so that's why I'm here

I was thinking of making a blog/mini-site which would offer some trust-building content in addition to asking for the list sign-up, with the idea being that I don't want to look like a simple squeeze page. The downside is that creating the content would take time/research/etc. of course.

However, some recommend testing a niche/idea before spending much time on content/etc. by throwing a squeeze page up and seeing how many sign-up to validate the niche.

So, would you advise that I build a blog with 10 (20? 30?) posts/pages before putting the e-mail collection in-place? Or, would it be better to "test" by simply creating a squeeze page and seeing how many will sign-up before I spend time building content?

I'm thinking that, in the interest of building trust and credibility, it's best to build some content first but often, logic doesn't prevail in marketing/etc. so I need to see what you all think.

What about structure of the site? Is it best to have the squeeze at domain.com/index.html with the blog/content in a /blog/ directory, or ??? I know that in the past when I've found a good site, it annoys me that the top-level takes me to the squeeze page (which I've already filled-out) rather than the content. Maybe this is not a problem for the general user?

Thanks in advance for the advice and any other related tips!
#advice #info #level #moving #product
  • So much thinking, no action being taken meanwhile!

    You see, my friend. You can figure out what works and what doesn't as you go along, but for now, GET STARTED!

    Just go ahead and start a blog. Publish content, stick up your opt-in list and see your list-building up. If you are already doing something, do MORE and keep doing it.

    While that's happening, add more content and do all that is necessary. The forum is full of info-spangled posts that educate, enlighten, mesmerize and enrich.

    May the affiliate gods be with you.

    Ash
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  • Profile picture of the author giwu
    To cheeze69, always give valuable content to attract people and to keep them coming back at the same time. Keeping them is as important as attracting new ones. Don't be intimidated of doing lots of research. You can never go wrong with this. If you want to succeed, you also have to work hard. That's reality.
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    • Profile picture of the author dmarzean
      As was stated above, content is going to be very important. You have to give a taste of what they are opting in for.

      Now that brings me to, what are you offering as an optin incentive? Are you offering a free report? An insider tip? If you have good content readily available without having to give up any personal information why would they optin?

      With the model you are describing, you can put a nice graphic of a free report along with a signup form in your sidebar. This is very un-intrusive and as long as you are offering good content for free on the blog, they will be interested in more free stuff and be willing to optin...

      Doug
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  • Profile picture of the author cheeze69
    Thanks for the input so far (and keep it coming - I'm reading it all!)

    My motivation level lies between Ash and Tina's comments. While I do have a few sites, it's been about 2 years I've been working on sites and am only at about $400-500/mo income, so I definitely spend too much time reading about different strategies (thanks to this site in large part :p ) and not actually acting.

    For a opt-in reward, I was thinking of offering a "10 things you need to know" type report. That, I can whip-up pretty easily. Getting 10+ pages of content on the site will take a bit more work. I have the info product already mind-mapped, so that's why I'm in the "planning stages" for the rollout. I like the idea of a sidebar graphic opt-in also.

    I'm a nerd/engineer to the core, so I definitely get "analysis paralysis" researching and thinking. I will try to "just do it" more often since if I can get to about $5K/mo, I think I could quit my job and do online things full-time. More $$ would be better of course, but that's my initial goal.
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