Like most things in life, there are ‘secrets’ to being successful. Creating info products is no different. And like most things, the ‘secrets’ are there for all to see.
The first problem that most people face when starting out as an ‘info-producer’ is in coming up with ideas to write about.
Initially, you have to be a thought recorder. Write down every crazy (or not so crazy) idea that fleetingly crosses your mind. Carry a notebook. This not only lets you capture the brilliant ideas that have a habit of disappearing, but also starts to train your mind into an opportunity state.
Opportunities are like cosmic rays: they are everywhere, but most of the time we can’t see them. With the right training, our brains can easily become very sensitive opportunity detectors.
At some point you will start to notice that many of your brilliant ideas are rubbish. Don’t worry. Keep on writing them down. Even a bad idea can sometimes be adapted later.
You will notice that a lot of your ideas fall into patterns. This is your subconscious mind’s way of pointing you in the right direction. If it keeps on returning to a theme, the chances are that somewhere, buried deep inside you, is gold. Now go digging.
When your notebook is growing, start thinking about your ideas bank. Be objective and ask yourself, “If this was the only project that I could ever do, would I be happy?”
Take all your top scoring ideas. Take a little time and expand each one. Write a broad synopsis of each so that you have a concrete idea of what the final product will look like. Don’t try to write it – just outline it.
What do you put in your outline?
Remember the old adage: ‘I take advice from five wise men: Mr Who, Mr Where, Mr What, Mr Why and Mr When.’
Add to those two more: How and How Much.
Make every section or chapter answer one of these seven questions (and you can ask each of them in different ways) and you have the outline of your book.
Now you should have a shortlist of realistic, doable projects – any one of which you would be happy to run with.
Next comes the most important step of all: do your homework. The best product in the world is worthless unless there is a market for it. So how do you find that out?
1. Take your shortlist and talk to 5 good friends. See what they have to say. Do they all favor one over the others? Why? What is it about it that captures their imagination? Would they buy it? Who do they think would buy it?
2. Pay attention to their advice, but don’t even think of acting on it. Even if they all think every one of your ideas stinks, it could easily be them that is wrong: they may simply be the wrong audience.
3. Write a very detailed description for yourself of exactly who you think will buy your products. Really try to get inside the mind of someone who could use what you have to say.
4. Write down at least ten words (or 2 word phrases) that most sum up each of your possible products. Define your keywords, in other words.
5. Get yourself online and search every search engine you know for every one of those key words or phrases. Check out as many sites as you can that the engines throw up (and don’t just look at the first page of listings either). Get a feel for the market. What you are doing here is trying to find out if there is already a market for your product, and what the people searching for it are being offered.
6. Be brutally honest with yourself. If google only comes up with 10 sites for one of your keywords, and none of the sites are particularly relevant, then you can bet that right now, there isn’t much of a market. If this is the case, ask yourself honestly if you have the staying power and specialized knowledge to carve a completely new niche. And where would you go to reach them?
7. Find newsgroups and forums that are relevant and lurk. Are people asking questions that your product will answer? Can you discern a need?
8. If you can, you may have the next super-niche product all ready to be written. Congratulations!
9. If you can’t, move on to the next project on your list and repeat.
This might all sound rather long-winded – and it certainly flies in the face of the proponents of ‘create a product fast’ philosophy, but it needn’t take all that long.
At the end of the day, you will have achieved three things. You will KNOW which project to work on, and why. You will KNOW who to target. You will KNOW what your future projects (and backend sales) will be.
And, as a by-product, you will have become a super- powered opportunity magnet in the process.
As you can see, the real secret is taking action. But if you are like 99.9% of people, you will find excuses for not taking action.
Every single excuse is ‘getaroundable.’ For example:
“I don’t know if anyone will be interested.”
It certainly helps to write about your passions – if only because your time spent in research will be minimized. But it isn’t strictly necessary. Do you really think that people who write fascinating fact- filled articles in magazines are all passionate about their subjects? No, they are just writers who are given an assignment.
If you can’t find a subject that YOU are passionate about, find one that SOMEONE ELSE is passionate about. Maybe that someone else is a friend or family member – great! Start a joint project.
Or maybe you don’t have friends who are passionate about anything (hard to believe, but possible). Then go and find a subject that a lot of people are trying to find out about. Do a search on the most popular keywords. I just did that and these seven all came in the top 50:
Weight Loss Jobs Prom Dresses Travel Recipes Dogs Baby names
Now, I’m not passionate about any of those, but I can clearly see how any one of them could be turned into an information-packed special report that would sell for 10 bucks or more. Can you?
Weight Loss: What are the most popular diets in America today? Go to newsgroups, find out what people are saying about them. Find two or three people who have succeeded in losing serious weight on each diet. Interview them. Package the whole thing up as an ‘insiders guide to today’s diet plans.’
Jobs: How about a state-by state analysis of unemployment figures. A regional plan for optimizing your chances to find a new job. A directory of job- seekers resources. A book on 101 thing you can do if you are laid off. A report on ‘home workers guide to surviving the recession.’
Prom Dresses: Now I know nothing about dresses, and I’ve never been to a prom, but this subject is not only highly important to those involved, it is also emotionally charged, and perennial. What more does a business need? Subjects that could be included: this years styles and colors. How much should you pay? The best suppliers. It is highly researchable and I’d bet, very much in demand. This search term came 28th out of 500 so the market is pretty big!
Travel: Where do you live? Folks come there. They want to know the best places to go. You can tell them. I’m not going to labor this one, the scope is so huge, but you could do a lot worse than visiting Mike McGroarty’s board at www.homemadebooklets.com/boards/webbbs_config.cgi to see what he has in mind for the future of travel booklets. Very exciting!
Recipes: This is a big field, but you can narrow it down. Everybody loves cook books. Take a look in any bookstore. And there is a world-wide market. The secret here is to link it with something else that people want. So, to use our example above, you could produce a series of recipe books for each of the top diet plans. See where I’m going?
Dogs: Dog lovers are obsessed. If you own a dog you’ll understand. If you don’t, you will be baffled. Yet canine = cash. You can write about breeds, training, behavior, exercise. Just go to the library, or search on google and facts will fall at your feet. Pick them up and put them in your book.
Baby names: Okay, there are books in the stores with lists of names. SO WHY ARE PEOPLE SEARCHING ONLINE? There is a market. People want the answers NOW. Not next Saturday when they can get to a bookshop. What can you do that is different? How about a list of all the names celebrities have called their kids in the last 5 years? What about a list of names with all the meanings, plus the numerology forecast for each one?
See what I mean? You may not be passionate about any of these things, but if I told you that when you have finished writing your book 1000 people will pay you $10 each to read it – will that spark a little passion in your belly? It does in mine!
“I can’t write that well.”
That is really just an excuse for not doing it.
It doesn’t matter one little bit if you can’t spell – the software will sort most of it out for you.
So what if you don’t understand grammar? Most ebooks are written in a very conversational style. Can you talk to your friends? Write like that. Totally correct grammar is often a disadvantage online.
When your book is written, give it to a few friends to read over for you. Listen to their suggestions because no matter how good at writing you are, other people will always spot your mistakes. You can even post on forums for people to review/critique your work.
“It’s not that easy. I have been trying for six months or better to find something to develop and cannot seem to find that one big hit-that home run.”
The problem here is that you have paralyzed yourself by wanting to see the end result before you have put pen to paper (or finger to keyboard). That is where you have gone wrong. If you tell yourself that you can’t do it, then GUESS WHAT? You CAN’T!
The only way to finish a project is to start it.
To summarize:
# Create your own ideas bank.
# Find out what people are interested in.
# Find a subject that you like (passion is optional).
# Write your 7-question outline.
# Research until your eyes hurt – looking especially for facts that are not easily accessible.
# Write, write, write. Don’t even think about if it sounds good, or reads right. Just get words on paper.
# When it is done, read it over and then put it aside for a week or two.
# When you come back to it, re-read it and then start to rewrite it.
# At the point that you feel you can’t do any more, ask other people to chip in.
# Then, if you have done a little each day, you will have a product to sell.
There is an old writer’s mnemonic: WRITER
Write Read Ignore Trash Edit Rewrite
Do you want to have an information product of your own to sell? Then congratulations, it is right there for you to take.
Or do you want to find more excuses for not doing anything? It is your choice.
Go and get you book started. You know you can.
Martin Avis is the author of the best-selling ‘Unlock the Secrets of Private Label eBooks’ – a complete blueprint to private label rights success. Visit http://www.plrsecrets.com to see how you can tap into this goldmine for yourself.
