baby in a packing box

Why is there a baby in this package? You’ll just have to read to find out.

A few days ago, I got all inspired by an idea and immediately decided to tweet it for quick & dirty market research - Would anyone be interested in a course on how to make & sell infoproducts?

The answer kinda blew my mind: @amyhoy: What’s an info product?

This. We cannot have this. Grab yourself a nice cup of cocoa, and settle in, because infoproducts are beautiful, wonderful, and wealth-giving.

And it’s time for a story.

Birds, Bees, & Info-P’s

When a mommy Info and a daddy Product love each other very much, they snuggle closer and closer! Then, magical sparkles happen between their bumpy bits! 9 months later, a baby infoproduct is born.

Now, Baby Infoproduct has the best of both his mommy and daddy. Mommy’s Info is stuck without a vehicle for delivery. Pure info can’t get anywhere on its own. But Daddy’s Product is only form – and form alone doesn’t sell.

But, thanks to the genius of sexual selection, Baby Infoproduct is the total package! Awww, ain’t love grand?

This time, without vomiting… What’s an infoproduct?

Strictly speaking, an infoproduct is a product that conveys info. But they’re oooooh so much more than that. A good infoproduct doesn’t just deliver info, it delivers results.

Types of Infoproducts

There are as many types of infoproducts as there are ways to persuade, guide, teach, and aid. Some of the most popular and successful types of infoproduct are:

  • ebooks
  • white papers
  • screencasts
  • videos
  • guided audio programs
  • recorded interviews
  • workbooks
  • self-guided courses
  • cheat sheets
  • diagrams
  • research papers
  • best practice guides
  • helpful software / wizards (that teach)
  • condensed notes / summaries

In short: digital goods of all stripes. The same “info” can be delivered in different forms for different purposes, audiences, and price points. That’s part of the beauty of an infoproduct.

You can even mix and match. Customers love it when they get video and a workbook, or a research paper and some interviews they can listen to on their commutes.

Why Your Strategy Needs an Infoproduct

Infoproducts are relatively easy (and dirt cheap) to create. They’re easy and cheap to sell – you don’t have to whip up your own ecommerce system. You can pick the form of a product that suits you and your audience.

And, if you get your offer and your audience right, you can sell them at a pretty premium: a windfall of income at launch, and then a small but steady stream of sales after that.

Oh, and, last and best thing: infoproducts usually don’t need much by way of customer support, so they’re even easy and cheap to maintain.

Let’s review:

  • cheap & easy to make
  • cheap & easy to sell
  • cheap & easy to maintain
  • can make a lot of money

Hot dog, that’s a lot of upsides without a lot of downsides.

Even if your long-term goal isn’t to live off ebooks, videos, workshops, etc., an infoproduct can help you stuff your coffers and get the feel for researching, planning, making, marketing, shipping, and selling.

Bottomline: Yay, Infoproducts!

Infoproducts are fun and profitable. I can attest to this one personally, having written (co-created) a technical ebook, lots of live training (a semi-infoproduct), and also a semi-self-guided launch class.

That JavaScript performance ebook alone has made us $45,823.00 as of yesterday, and all we had to invest was time.

And you don’t have to write a whole ebook to make a nice little chunk of change. Quaking with fear at the thought of writing the Great American Ebook? Then make a presentation and narrate it. Or screen cap yourself doing your thing with code or Photoshop. Or create 5 podcasts and package them with a little workbook. Or, or, or. Infoproducts are the very soul of flexibility.

Also: before your excuse-making machine starts churning up, “But Amy, you’re special” – no, no I’m not. I’m not the only one making a bundle off infoproducts in a tech/design field. Check out these other peeps: Peepcode , Lynda, Create Your Own Programming Language, the Envato network of sites, Sitepoint, UIE, Before & After, and Giles Bowkett. Even 37Signals used to sell expensive white papers on design ROI, until they made their fortune elsewhere.

These are a broad selection, but definitely not everything that’s out there.

So I urge you, consider an infoproduct. In return for procreation and snuggles, they’ll pay you handsomely.

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