Value Added Content Marketing To Sell Information Products?

You can give away some information and still have plenty more to share. Your information product can cover more areas of your niche or be a step-by-step guide or workbook. In other words, be more broad or more specific. You could also offer interviews with people who have used the information successfully. Or you could add a video series.

Rose

You are dead right on this. People don't want to buy things right away, but they mainly want information, and if it is free, you will get a heck of a lot more responses on how this information can be used. It took me 3 years of marketing to finally realize that giving away free stuff is the way to get people to pay for stuff. So find a killer ebook that you have rights to and give it away to get a list or make your own ebook with links that can lead to your products. I hope this helps you out. Good luck

Always listen to Alexa.

I think if you give away a helpful tip then they'll be more apt to buy your ebook entitled, "52 Tips on blah, blah, blah". You have already helped them once, so they know you can do it again. There is always more than one way to deal with any problem. Even if you wrote about each of the 52 ways in different articles, some people don't want to search or read through 52 different articles. They would rather save time and buy the ebook that has all the tips in one product. People value their time as well as their money.

Or you could write an article about, "The Causes of Cold Sores" or "The Best Way to Hide Cold Sores," and then suggest reading your ebook about "Ways to Cure Cold Sores". You're offering information on the same subject but yet it's different information.

Rose

Yes, I do think that you have the wrong mindset. Perhaps viewing it like this may help. Take authors for example, they offer a chapter of their upcoming book in their present book to entice readers to buy the next one. Or even on the same book, they give a blurb about what's inside the book on the back.

They give enough copy to whet your appetite and compel you to buy their books. They don't give away all of the details, they don't tell the whole story, but they offer "just enough."

Even upcoming movie releases do the same thing in their movie trailers. They give away some key scenes in the movie, but not the whole film.

It's how authors and movie producers market their product. They don't feel like they are doing wrong and neither should you.

Terra

If you wanna write your own stuff then you can give it away for free. You can do the same thing with PLR. What people will pay for is REAL training and advice. So if you give the book away for free just make sure that you have a juicy offer that says something like

"Hey if you like this, I can help you put it all together. CLICK HERE"

That works pretty well. And you can charge premium prices if you actually do some coaching and not just selling more detailed info.

What they have told you so far is great advice. You need to give something away. But make sure you put them on your list. I hope that was obvious but thought I would add it. Then you can send them meaningful information and a sales plug every 4th email.

In niches where proof is available the best method is to provide some proof. Side by Side pictures for weight loss or any other niche of that type. People aren't as likely to take what you have to offer if you don't give them a good reason to take it and then tell them to take it.

It seems crazy but that's how it works.

You can use content to market information products, works quite well actually...here are some ideas:

1. Useful but incomplete information - using your example of a cold sore solution, what you can do is to publish an article that outlines the 3 most important areas to focus to cure cold sores (I'm making this up, but you'll get the idea - for example diet, stress level and topical treatment) - then you can mention one element in each of these that help cure cold-sores, but you save the complete set of steps/advice/system for your ebook.
So people read your article, see that you know what you are talking about, are curious as you outline the critical areas and now want the full solution where they will click through and buy your ebook.

2. Case studies - you can create content that outline the experiences of those that have suffered with the condition, then interview them on what areas they focused on to finally cure themselves...again without having them give away the entire solution

3. In a case where there are multiple steps to the solution, you can dig into one in detail, then share the fact that this one step only works if you take steps 2, 3 and 4 (whcih are in your ebook)

4. You can publish content around news stories or common cures that do NOT work - and why that is, then guide them to your ebook for the system that does work.

Your content needs to accomplish a few things:

a) Rank in search engines that will allow people find you when they look for solutions or answers that you provide
b) Attract interest and credibility so that your reader believes you can really help them where others have not in the past
c) Create interest and curiousity to make clicking through to your sales page irrisistable

Always think in terms of what issues, frustrations and desires do my ideal prospects have when they arrive at my site and how can my content bridge the gap between them being skeptical and mildly interested to trusting, curious and willing to take further action.

I sell my own products and always include my email address for any doubts the buyer has, and I got a special email account for that purpose only.

I receive only a few messages per month (because I really try to cover every issue I teach as much and simple as possible), so those messages help me as a good feedback to improve the product or to create good content.

Also I contact my subscribers and encourage them to send me their own questions about any topic of the product they will love to know.

If you answer their questions in a right manner they feel compelled to buy the main course.