What Are Info-Products and Why Do You Need Them?

If you’re just getting started in Internet marketing, you’re probably familiar with the term “info-products” or information products. Info-products include any tangible or intangible form in which you deliver information. That means info-products could be books, e-books, reports, manuals, workbooks, courses, teleclasses, e-zines, articles, blogs, audio files, CDs, videos, and memberships. The tangible ones are books and CDs while the intangible (digital) ones are e-books and audio files (MP3).

When you’re just starting out, you may want to chose info-products that are quick and easy to produce such as a 20-page report, a 30-minute interview, a 5-page newsletter, or a 40-page e-book. I once turned the transcript of a 90-minute teleclass into an e-book in 8 hours. These smaller info-products are a great way to begin so you’re not overwhelmed with the idea of writing a 200-page book or a 12-week course.
What’s so valuable about info-products is that they’re a commodity you can create one time and sell many times, as opposed to services which you deliver one-on-one such as coaching or bodywork. In some instances as a service provider, you can leverage your time by offering group coaching, classes, or seminars. Yet, most service professionals like speakers, trainers, consultants, health care providers, lawyers, realtors, financial planners, hair stylists, and others work with one client or customer at a time, thereby trading their time for money.

If you’re an entrepreneur, small business owner, or service provider, you have an area of expertise to share with others. Now, some people may not be able to afford your services, or you may not be in a geographically accessible area, or some are the “do-it-yourself” type. These people can’t have your services, but they can have your ideas when you transform them into info-products. This is the way you can reach and help more people than when you serve one person at a time. You only have a limited number of hours and that limits your income. With info-products you can generate cash 24/7 while you sleep, work, play, or take a vacation.

Here’s an example Let’s say you charge $100/hour for your service, so 40 hours of your time would be $4,000. If you wrote an e-book and charged $40 for it and it took you 40 hours to write, you would only have to sell 100 e-books to make the same $4,000. And after you sell that first 100 e-books, everything else is profit. You’re not trading your time for dollars any more! You put in the initial 40 hours and now the e-book will keep on bringing in income.

Using info-products leverages your time, shares your expertise, creates passive profits, and attracts more people to your service business. When you move from selling your services to selling info-products, you transform from an entrepreneur into an infopreneur and you don’t have to work as hard!!