The Power of Having Your OWN Product...

With certain niches, and certainly with a niche like what you are presently doing (music), video would have far greater value than any ebook, since the viewer would be able to see you actually playing the instrument as it happened. Conveying the nuances and subtleties of that via an ebook would be next to impossible.

Paul

CD

I always love the way your answers zip straight to the factual truth and leave the BS at the door! Agree 100%!

CD, that was my main problem. Not being satisfied with my product. And thus not promoting it. Some good advice from you and Shane. Just gotta do it and worry about anything that comes up later.

Thanks,

Michael

Shane you da man! And so is everyone else on this thread that gets it.

The very first ebook I sold - I sold for a dollar *stop laughing* I didn't know what the heck I was doing but I had a passion for what I was writing about.

I didn't even know about sales pages then and only mentioned it once on my blog. When the first dollar came in I nearly wet my panties *again stop laughing*

It was only a dollar I know but the feeling that someone wanted buy it filled my little heart with hope. I sold quite a few copies but actually I then thought 'hey V, you idiot - this knowledge is really worth so much more.' And people asked me, 'why is it only a dollar when it's quite a lot of valuable info?' I just didn't have faith in myself at that time.

And here is the thing that most people won't trust in is that their knowledge is worth quite a bit to people and I think the hurdle most passion ebook writers face is going from 'this is my passion and hobby which I want to tell people about' to 'this is a good money earner as well as my passion/hobby'.

Since then I've written more eBooks on different things just to hone my skills - some I gave for free to build my lists some I've sold *for more than a dollar*

Now I'm working on combining an ebook with videos tutorials (as an upsell) for my target market and getting affiliates on board.

It's just really nice to be in control as many have mentioned and no one is going to toot your horn as much as you should about how knowledgeable you are - especially if you have a blog which offers great knowledge too.

Thanks again Shane for starting such a great uplifting thread.

V

Any specific recommendations on who does this sort of work? (and does it well?)

Thanks...

Anyone know where I can buy one of these? (PM me!)

What does this mean?

That's the winning formula right there! I've been producing content for newspapers, magazines, comic book companies, movie studios, radio and web for years.

However, I didn't dig deep into the IM game as it left a bad taste in my mouth over the years. Nowadays with more people knowledgeable about selling online, I feel extremely confident that I can produce ebooks of top quality and covering any number of niches. I'm a professional writer and I'm gaining fast ground writing for other marketers and I'm a professional illustrator/cartoonist and that's leaping too.

If I converted my comics and animation to ebook format as well as the radio interviews and data I'd have more products to handle. While surfing the IM boards I noticed the happiest campers were people who produced needed, professional products for affiliates to sell.

A simple formula.

Your post here cements what I've read and studied the statistics for. I have an army of professional musicians who've never tapped into this market and they would make millions if they did. Considering the traffic they from their fansites it's no wonder.

It's tough keeping up with the potential I'm seeing.

Thanks for the post!

Shane, Very valid point aswell!

However, i feel that if people have a REAL passion for something, theyd have no problem making a audio file explaining something, but i understand what you mean.

Everything "technical" like getting a website designed etc, would take a long time studying that to get it to the standard your hoping.

why waste a year, when u can pay $100 to get a whizz (who loves building websites) to set you up exactly what you want in 3 days?

Outsourcing is great, everyone should use it - but for product creation, it wouldnt be my cup of tea personally!

J

I really like that statement!

I have a few ebooks in my head that I have to get out put on paper (PDF actually). My hold up has always been me not sitting down and actually doing it.

I'll have to look into outsourcing instead.

Mike

This is a great thread that will hopefully motivate those that have always wanted to create their own product but have kept putting it off. I think I spent over 9 months creating my first product, its never been perfect and I know there are other areas I need to improve on but this doesn't stop people from emailing me and thanking me for the product!

Those of you that sell low level products, how many pages of content do you roughly include for the following products?

$9 Product
$17 Product
$29 Product

I've got a lot of ideas on low price products but what puts me off is not knowing how much value should be included in the product to justify its price.

Thanks Bjarne - that's a great way to tackle the problem. If its a topic you are passionate about its very easy to not even start because if you put everything you want to include in your ebook then it can seem like it would take ages to write.

By limiting very specifically the volume of content it becomes much less daunting.

Cheers for that!

Mike

Thanks Samuel, so did I... There's always great nuggets here on the WF.

Good luck with your project and don't be too pedantic when working on your product... Being a perfectionist is good, but not if you take it to the extreme...

Best,
Shane

Easy peasy lemon squeezy Sound Clip and Quote-

Da na na na...I woke up dis mornin'...da na na na...and got out of bed...da na na na...read the Warrior Forum...and ideas was swimmin' in my head...da da da da da da...I got the IM Blues...Too much money to make...da na na na...fo' Heaven's sake...da na na na...

See? Shane that was the last variable needed to know. It shows a streamlining of this industry that says basically the responsibility is on 'you' to make money because the tools and techniques are here and now.

That's the foundation needed to build success. I could go on and on with the talent pool of experts and celebs I know who could be tapped for products the public and affiliates would drool over but that's for another thread. Bottom line is there's a clear, simple formula for getting one's products out there without the old skool mobsters we had to deal with in the publishing industry. The book distributors were a nightmare but now, due to the web, we have direct links to the public and can bypass them.

What it calls for now is producing quality in demand products and making them affiliate friendly.

The thousands of artists, writers, experts, celebs I know and work around couldn't build a website or blog if you beat them over the head with a stick. However, they have tips and tools regarding their successes in their respective fields that are worth ten times their weight in gold. I would need an army to produce that much content. It's too much potential but not enough people to produce for them. I see a goldmine in my own backyard.

This thread lays out the formula for success on both sides of the fence for producers and affiliates.

Now that all my ducks are in a row I can say the only thing I need do now is produce quality products and fine tune the salesmanship skills.

Right now I'm helping a friend, a young fellow from church who is an actor. You've all probably seen him here and there but he's also a writer and I'm helping him with a comics project to get him off the ground. I can package that process into a product showing how we did it. Right now he's boasting about my art on his Facebook page where he has several thousand friends. The other actors, directors, and studios are falling out of their chairs because they can't figure out how he could afford me. His friends shared his comment and the traffic spikes are tasty to say the least. When we're done he'll have bragging rights, a valuable property to shop to the studios and major clout. That's all extra publicity that can be converted to traffic and credibility.

Now I realize where I fit in with IM and the best formulas to follow. Should make me a valuable contributor to the industry in many ways.

You're welcome... Now less talky, more worky!

Best,
Shane

gjabiz, you sure said it!

I remember the days of print when I got in over 30 years ago. Had to battle mobsters in the Distribution Industry and Ivory Tower cliques. With the web allowing us direct access to the customers those evil empires have fallen with a resounding thud.

I learned way back when the value of creating my own comic characters via my own products. There were some good times and bad but many lessons to be learned.

If people's kids found out what I do for a living they would scream. I often sit around at home or at the beach drawing and writing and eating chocolate cake and ice cream for breakfast. I have beautiful babes pose for me and I get choose my bed time. It's decadent but it's part of the freedom you get when you have control.

I've had to battle lots of oppression from the corporate monsters and in the comic book and animation industries it's been a battle. We've won for the most part. People are hip to the types of personalities that ruin industry. Shoot the arrogant is what I say. It will save you lots of misery and woe.

Once you get an arrogant, selfish, ego tripper on your lines you're in for trouble. Take em' out into the back alley and give em' what fer.

For me, the changes in the IM Industry are amazing from what it used to be. It makes a good platform for one to take responsibility and create. For Affiliates I know I need to make quality products with an attractive percentage. The kind of pro relationship where we all win in the game.

That's the sweet thing about this business ... you can do this from the South Pole or the beaches of Fiji ... can carry a camera, digital recorder and a laptop all in a small shoulder bag and with your talent for research, production and marketing ... travel the world and make your own empire of products ...

T.R.

Creating your own product isn't that hard, especially if you sell it for low price while it's worth much more (i.e. selling a $17 ebook while it would be worth $77 or whatever).

I'm just wondering: How do the "gurus" manage to create these products that cost around $2k and people are still happy? How do you put together information that is worth so much (if not more) and people are still happy to pay these prices?

Having such high paying items on the backend can give your business real leverage...I'd just love to know how to make these!

$21 million total

It sells so well precisely because it looks so bad. It's designed to look like something an average guy put together. Not some big, over priced marketing machine.