The past decade-and-a-half has been easily the most exciting time in my life, all of that is due to the incredible success and FUN involved in building online businesses based on high-profit niche information products.
It all started back in the early 2000’s with affiliate marketing…I threw a website up, hit some discussion forums, produced a LOT of content (articles) and then watched as one after another I earned thousands upon thousands of dollars in affiliate income…I was HOOKED!
In one of those markets it became obvious there was a gap, in other words there was information required that was not being filled by the affiliate product – so I set out to create my first niche information product.
Truth be told, I had already started writing a “book”, in the traditional sense. My plan was to shop this to multiple book agents and find a publisher.
All of that changed when I saw guys like Corey Rudl, Yanik Silver and Marlon Sanders self-publishing their niche information products and bringing in $47, 97, and even $197 when books were selling for $20 and only making their authors $4 in royalties.
It was as if a TON of bricks hit me…life as a niche information product creator and marketer was my future.
Later that year I came out with my first ebook, priced it at $47 (along with some bonus materials) and before long had sold my first 100 copies…OK Then!
Throughout the next 15-years we now have 16+ niche information products across 4 niche markets ranging from $17 reports to $1000 coaching programs and membership sites with many products in the middle.
Along the way, of course, we have learned (and continue to learn) MUCH about what works and what doesn’t work with niche information product creation and marketing.
About 5-years ago we started sharing that “Inside” information with a small group of TOP niche information product entrepreneurs with Information Markter’s Zone, helping others live out the same incredible success we have experienced in our life as product creators and marketers.
In this post, I wanted to share 4 of the most critical factors impacting success of your niche information product creation.
Niche Selection
Everyone gets bungled up on this one, yet it is the MOST important part of the entire process. You want to select a niche that meets the following criteria
- Clear and Specific
- Based on urgent, irrational and unrelenting desire
- Is in a market that you can either relate to or have an interest/passion for so you can really dig in and differentiate
- Is big enough to meet your financial objectives, but micro enough for you to target effectively (with strong ROI)
- Exhibits evidence that there are other products selling
- Holds potential for both low-end (introduction) and higher-ticket information products so you can grow from one product into a business
Testing & Validation
A very common mistake for people entering the information product creation and marketing arena is to assume they KNOW exactly what customers will want (often based on their own understanding of what they NEED rather than the sometimes irrational desire that fuels most buying activity), spend months on the creation and launch of such products which eventually sputter and die in the marketplace. Believe me when I say…the market TELLS you what it wants based on putting offers in front of them and letting them show you the way. Take your ego out of the equation and test your product ideas by launching content, ad campaigns, low-ticket products, webinars, etc…
Business Not A Product
Always, always, always remember that your ultimate aim is to build a business that continues to grow in value, sell additional products, add continued value to your market and improve your average customer ticket over time. Why is this so important? When you plan your niche information product creation and launch strategy you will typically use a different approach IF you realize that your first product is designed more to engage and build leads in your market where your follow-on products is where you will increase and improve your profit.
Pay Close Attention To Your Numbers
The main difference between a micro-entrepreneur who sits in his basement and sells $1000 of ebooks each month versus a 20-personal company that brings in $2M in information product sales has EVERYTHING to do with knowing your numbers. Specifically, how do you construct your product portfolio and marketing campaign in such a way as to have your cost of customer acquisition (cost of advertising, content creation, PR, etc…) be less than your revenue such that you can scale up your traffic generation and marketing efforts X10 and really blow up the profits in your business. Too many information entrepreneurs view their business as a “hobby”, a “part-time” income source or as a “solo-preneur” value proposition when they should be looking at their niche information product business as a much bigger, thriving, highly profitable business.
What about you?
Do you have your own ebook, book, training program, membership site or course online?
If not, is niche information product creation and marketing something you intend to embark on?
Let us know.
