19 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}
19 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}

Info Product Sales

by PaulintheSticks
16 replies
I'm considering marketing information products in the personal development niche but don't have any experience with it.

Personally I've always found most information products to be horrible value. Especially in more static niches where things don't change fast (like MMO) and you can find the same info from books you can buy at Amazon for $10 (or $3-$5 used). Obviously when e-books first came out they were novel and people were selling 1/4th the info for 5x the price as physical books.

Any way, I'm just wondering if taking a bunch of quality content (eg articles) on a topic, repackaging it into courses, ebooks, videos, etc. and selling it at high margins is still a viable business model.

Any insight is appreciated.
#info #product #sales
  • Profile picture of the author hustlinsmoke
    It can still make you money but people are more savy with searches now and they will hurt your sales later if you just use old rehashed material. I understand alot of the information products just go over what has been said before but we can make it better by adding to it and also making it where the reader enjoyed the ebook.

    I always go to imreportcard and a few other sites before I buy anything, as soon as I see that one person saying its just a bunch of free information they pulled off the net, i won't buy it.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8229193].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author tpw
    The real value of an info product is the value that it delivers to the consumer.

    In the MMO niche, for example, how much would it be worth to you if I could teach you how to make $1k next month?

    If in the "getting pregnant" niche, how much would it be worth to the couple who is having a hard time getting pregnant if you could advise them how to do so on their own without the assistance of a medical professional?

    If in the "buy a home" niche, how much would it be worth to the consumer if you could teach them how not to get screwed when they bought the home?

    If in the "sell a home" niche, how much would it be worth to the consumer if you could teach them how to invest $800 to squeeze another $10k out of the sell price of the home?

    If hope you see where I am going here...

    It is not the number of pages or hours of video that determines the real value to the buyer, but rather, how well the product helps them to achieve a specific goal.
    Signature
    Bill Platt, Oklahoma USA, PlattPublishing.com
    Publish Coloring Books for Profit (WSOTD 7-30-2015)
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8229204].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author PaulintheSticks
      Originally Posted by tpw View Post

      The real value of an info product is the value that it delivers to the consumer.

      In the MMO niche, for example, how much would it be worth to you if I could teach you how to make $1k next month?
      Bill,

      That wasn't my point. My point is about "market" value.

      If I can buy a book on amazon for $10 that teaches me the same technique to make $1000 as your book and your book costs $47, your book is not as good a value.
      Signature
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8229214].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author WillR
        Originally Posted by PaulintheSticks View Post

        Bill,

        That wasn't my point. My point is about "market" value.

        If I can buy a book on amazon for $10 that teaches me the same technique to make $1000 as your book and your book costs $47, your book is not as good a value.
        As Bill said, the value isn't so much to do with price paid it's to do with your sales message and the product delivered. You could sell a book on Amazon for $10 and sell the exact same information somewhere else for $47. Both people would buy them. Much like people sell products for $7 in the WSO forum and then take them to Clickbank at $47+. Just because that product is now selling for more does not make it less valuable. The value is not to do with the price paid but what they get in return for that money.
        Signature

        .


        .

        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8229277].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author stevoarnold
    Personally, after almost 2 years making a living online I am only really now seeing the true genius of selling your OWN info products. If I had spent the same amount of effort making my own products as I have trying to be an affiliate for other peoples products over the past two years I'm sure I would be exponentially wealthier by now.

    The key is to ASK what your audience wants before you just go and rehash some old junk. You can't go wrong giving people what they are asking you to give them

    I have a whole bunch of amazon affiliate sites making decent money, which have taken me a long time to build up, and I'm SO nervous that at any moment Google could just wipe me out. This is why personally I'm concentrating the majority of my time from now on building lists, asking the list what they need, and then giving it to them
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8229274].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author PaulintheSticks
    I appreciate what you guys are saying and I realize that value is in the eye of the recipient.

    So back to the original question

    Is taking a bunch of quality content (eg articles) on a topic, repackaging it into courses, ebooks, videos, etc. and selling it at high margins still a viable business model?
    Signature
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8229315].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author stevoarnold
      Originally Posted by PaulintheSticks View Post

      I appreciate what you guys are saying and I realize that value is in the eye of the recipient.

      So back to the original question

      Is taking a bunch of quality content (eg articles) on a topic, repackaging it into courses, ebooks, videos, etc. and selling it at high margins still a viable business model?

      Yes, if that's what your audience wants and will pay for

      I don't suppose they care if it's repackaged, newly written, or whatever, if you ask someone what they need and they say "I want to know how to do X", and you give them a product called "this is how you do X", it doesnt really matter how the info is presented or where it originally came from. Because if they still need to know how to do X then it would be fair to assume they haven't seen the original stuff you're thinking about repackaging.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8229334].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author tpw
      Originally Posted by PaulintheSticks View Post

      I appreciate what you guys are saying and I realize that value is in the eye of the recipient.

      So back to the original question

      Is taking a bunch of quality content (eg articles) on a topic, repackaging it into courses, ebooks, videos, etc. and selling it at high margins still a viable business model?

      Absolutely.

      Unless my current revenue is just fairy money, and I did not realize it.

      It really depends on the perceived value of your content and how you package it for sale.
      Signature
      Bill Platt, Oklahoma USA, PlattPublishing.com
      Publish Coloring Books for Profit (WSOTD 7-30-2015)
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8229336].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author WillR
      Originally Posted by PaulintheSticks View Post

      I appreciate what you guys are saying and I realize that value is in the eye of the recipient.

      So back to the original question

      Is taking a bunch of quality content (eg articles) on a topic, repackaging it into courses, ebooks, videos, etc. and selling it at high margins still a viable business model?
      It's not so much to do with where the information came from that is important. Concentrate on solving people's problems. If you have a product that solves someone's problem then they don't care where or how you came up with that information. If it works, it works.

      Look at encyclopedias and newspapers. They are generally not much more than information taken from elsewhere and presented in a different way.

      Look at your doctor or dentist. In reality they are just using information they learnt back in college to solve your problem. But so long as they are solving your problem you don't care where or how they came about that information. It doesn't make it less valuable.
      Signature

      .


      .

      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8229341].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author tpw
        Originally Posted by WillR View Post

        It's not so much to do with where the information came from that is important. Concentrate on solving people's problem.s If you have a product that solves someone's problem then they don't care where or how you came up with that information. if it works, it works.

        Look at encyclopedias and newspapers. They are generally not much more than information taken from elsewhere and presented in a different way.

        Exactly right.
        Signature
        Bill Platt, Oklahoma USA, PlattPublishing.com
        Publish Coloring Books for Profit (WSOTD 7-30-2015)
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8229342].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author Thriftypreneur
      Originally Posted by PaulintheSticks View Post

      I appreciate what you guys are saying and I realize that value is in the eye of the recipient.

      So back to the original question

      Is taking a bunch of quality content (eg articles) on a topic, repackaging it into courses, ebooks, videos, etc. and selling it at high margins still a viable business model?
      Have you not seen the WSO forum or Clickbank?

      The model works just fine.

      Originally Posted by PaulintheSticks View Post

      My main hesitation with this is that there is so much free information available on the web. It seems that would have to hurt the perceived value of info products in general. Yea I know....

      I realize the convenience of having the info in a package is a big selling point. Otherwise I guess its a matter of having information that helps the customer and is not so easily accessible.
      Never, ever, ever underestimate the laziness of other people. Doing so will leave lots and lots of revenue on the table.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8229386].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author PaulintheSticks
    My main hesitation with this is that there is so much free information available on the web. It seems that would have to hurt the perceived value of info products in general. Yea I know....

    I realize the convenience of having the info in a package is a big selling point. Otherwise I guess its a matter of having information that helps the customer and is not so easily accessible.
    Signature
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8229362].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author WillR
      Originally Posted by PaulintheSticks View Post

      My main hesitation with this is that there is so much free information available on the web. It seems that would have to hurt the perceived value of info products in general. Yea I know....
      Yep, the one word is convenience. The same reason I pay someone to wash my car when I could just as easily do it myself. The same reason I get my shirts ironed when I could just do it myself. The same reason I get takeaway once a week when I could just cook myself.

      It's all about convenience. If you can solve the problem for someone they don't care how it's done. All they care about is the end result. If you can deliver that end result for someone, they will be happy regardless.
      Signature

      .


      .

      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8229370].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author stevoarnold
      Originally Posted by PaulintheSticks View Post

      My main hesitation with this is that there is so much free information available on the web. It seems that would have to hurt the perceived value of info products in general. Yea I know....

      I realize the convenience of having the info in a package is a big selling point. Otherwise I guess its a matter of having information that helps the customer and is not so easily accessible.
      You can pretty much find out everything about anything for free these days, you're right... But people will pay for the convenience of you being the "filter" and handing to them on a plate exactly what they need, without them having to go out piecing it all together themselves.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8229372].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author tpw
    Time is money.

    If you can solve people's problems and save them the time of figuring out how to do it without your help, they will pay you money without a second thought.
    Signature
    Bill Platt, Oklahoma USA, PlattPublishing.com
    Publish Coloring Books for Profit (WSOTD 7-30-2015)
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8229375].message }}

Trending Topics