Information Products: What Are People REALLY Paying For

What exactly are people paying you for when they purchase an information product? Many people drawn to the business of selling information are the sorts of folks who like to search out information and find their own answers. By nature they are researchers. This is an accurate description of me, and I'm sure many others.

The first question that occurred to me when I began working on my websites and information products was, 'why would anyone pay me for this information? I got it for free in the Internet!'

One of the things it is easy for a researcher to forget is that it costs time to do research. Not everyone does research for fun (I know this is hard to believe.) Count up the hours you spend surfing around to learn something new. The number of hours is probably quite high but, since you enjoy research, the time flew by. Here is the big secret about creating information products...

Most people don't like doing research. They just want the answers. This is particularly true for people who are trying to solve and urgent problem - so called 'desperate buyers.'

Information product buyers are purchasing your research. They want reliable information presented in a well organized manner. People pay for this service all throughout the business world. Large companies employ research staff to analyze the marketplace and create reports and summaries to help busy executives quickly 'get up to speed' on what is happening in their industry. A whole industry is devoted to summarizing business books. In the financial world there are hundreds of companies producing market performance reports to inform investors in their decisions.

My point is this, don't underestimate the value of what you know. You don't have to have a 100% original idea to succeed, you just need to clearly and logically present your research to the people who want the information. Your success will be more dependent on the quality of your research and presentation.

Now that you know the secret, here is a million dollar tip:

People pay big money for targeted application of your research.

Here is what that means. You may learn everything there is to know about creating websites. But, creating yet another resource for learning HTML or Cascading Style Sheets is not going to get you very far. But, find a very specific audience of people who are trying to build their own websites and give them a step-by-step guide with just enough of the information you know to get the results they want, and people will be fighting to get their hands on your products.

The reason I know this is because I did it. For years I've worked on and studied web design and programming. I started using Wordpress blogging software to create my own websites. I tinkered with the software to learn how to tweak and customize it to get the results I wanted. Along the way I became very knowledgeable on the subject of installing and customizing Wordpress.

I met a group of marketers at the Earn 1K a Day forum run by Dennis Becker, and they were all creating niche content websites for a specific business strategy that Dennis teaches. I adapted what I knew about Wordpress to create my versions of the sites using Wordpress instead of the methods that others were using.

As I talked with others about what I was doing, I discovered that many of them wanted to try my method but did not have my experience with the software and wanted to get up and running fast. So, I created a training program to focus what I knew on the task of creating niche content websites. The result was my first major information product. From the very beginning, this product has been a strong seller for me and the income continues to grow.

So, find a specific need that your research can address and create a step-by-step guide to answer it. Your PayPal account will love you!