Information Products – How To Stand Out From Your Competition For Extra Sales
Many information marketers have the erroneous belief that
if they find a market with too many competitors, they
shouldn’t write an ebook for that audience.
To the contrary, competition can be beneficial for a
variety of reasons including –
* Researching.
If there IS a lot of competition, you can reasonably expect
there this to be a lucrative marketplace. Generally
speaking, a large product and service line means there is
large consumer interest and demand. I encourage you to
LOOK for markets with lots of competition as it’s a
shortcut to researching where revenue is available.
* Partnering.
The more competition there is, the more likely you can find
other like-minded marketers to partner with in cross
promotion efforts, co-op advertising, and other related
joint ventures. This is especially true if your ebook is
“related” to other ebooks without DIRECTLY competing with
them. (I.E. Raising metabolism is “related” to cutting
calories in that they are both agents of weight loss.)
* Educating.
Another reason why competition is good is simply because
your target audience is educated, at least in part, on
someone else’s dime. That is, the marketing materials of
your competitors educates the market on why the products
are necessary or beneficial. A good example is this: many
marketers “educated” consumers on the need for using audio
and video on their web sites, opening the door to a variety
of related products and services to be sold.
So, competition isn’t always a bad thing. It can be a good
thing for these reasons and a handful of others.
But …
The challenge comes in when you want to stand out among the
competition so YOU can get marketplace interest.
There are many ways to stand out by creating your own “USP”
(Unique sales proposition) that could be covered here, but
I want to mention is this –
Create a demographical version of your ebook.
Let me give you an example –
Let’s suppose you are going to write an ebook entitled,
“Weight Loss Secrets”. So, you write it and then you
create a “demographical version” that is entitled, “Weight
Loss For Christians”.
Other examples might include –
* Time Management For Homeschoolers
* The Internet Marketer’s Diet
* The Senior Citizen’s Guide To Investing
* How Ace Your First Teacher Interview
* How To Get A Hot Date: College Student Edition
* Fundraising For Youth Groups
All you would need to do in order to create this
“demographical version” of your ebook is take the same
exact ebook you’ve written (your “regular” version) and add
some specific references and ideas that relate to the
particular demographic you’ve chosen.
* If you decide to create “How to Get A Hot Date: College
Student Edition”, then you’d add in a few references to
specific places a college student can find a date that
wouldn’t apply to your regular audience (I.E. Frat party),
as well as pick-up lines, first-date ideas, practices and
other content that apply only to college students.
In other words, you share the same content, but you speak
THEIR specific language and provide ideas that THEY can put
into practice in their setting.
The PRINCIPLES of finding dates may be the same across the
board, but the PRACTICES of finding dates are completely
different for college students and widowed senior citizens!
And if you can get creative in your content, you can make
your demographical version even more appealing.
Your “regular” version may have 5 main practices for time
management. But in your “demographic version” those
practices become 5 “Homeschooling Habits”.
So, what’s in this for YOU as the author?
Let’s take a look at a couple of noteworthy advantages -
Firstly, you STAND OUT among your competition. As a
Christian, I can tell you that if 20 ebooks were available
on weight loss and one of them specifically mentioned being
for believers, I’d immediately take a look at that one.
Secondly, you EXPAND OUT among your competition. Now you
can market your ebook to TWO entirely different audiences.
For example: You can look for “weight loss” ezines and buy
advertising in them. But, you can also look for
“Christian” ezines (that have NOTHING to do with weight
loss) and buy advertising in them. This allows you to
reach audiences that you likely would have never been able
to reach!
Then, it’s simple a matter of doing it again for other
demographics.
Rinse. Repeat. Reprofit.
Start with ONE demographic and move on to many others …
* Christians
* Homemakers
* Senior citizens
* Students
* First-timers
* Newlyweds
* Office Workers
* Teachers
* WAHMs
The list could go on and on.
Most information products can be custom-tailored for
different demographic groups to STAND OUT among the
competitors … and open up the door to new contacts that
might never be reached through other means.
If you want to STAND out and EXPAND out then create one or
more “demographical versions” of your ebook.
Like a screaming child at the library, you’ll get
attention!
Infoproduct – 3 Idea Hangouts For Finding Red-Hot Ebook Topics
I’ve always been impressed with those who seem to always be
ahead of the pack when it comes to new ideas.
When I first started publishing information products
online, I thought that certain people had a crystal ball
they gazed into. Or some top-secret contact who was
providing them with inside information.
Over time, I realized that it wasn’t magic that allowed
these people to come up with red-hot ideas on demand. It
was simply that they knew where to look.
I soon discovered many places where ideas seemed to always
be found. I call these places “idea hangouts”. Here are
three of my favorites where you can find ideas for your
next ebook anytime you want. Almost like a genie granting
you three wishes…
1. GOOGLE.COM.
Google is the ultimate “idea hangout”. There are so many
ways to mine the gold in Google’s amazing search database
that it would take another article to graze the surface of
this enormous iceberg.
What I want to mention are just two quick ways to find
ideas by searching Google.
- Identify Listings.
Search for a broad topic related to your area of interest
or expertise. (I.E. “Tennis”, “Weight loss”,
“Homeschooling”.) Look at all of the web sites listed in
the index of returned results. You’ll likely find some
ideas for information products right there in the first
couple of pages.
- Identify Advertisers.
You’ll probably notice small ads either at the top of the
page or to the right of the page (or both!). These
advertisers represent your competition. They also
represent your thermometer for taking the temperature of
your market and gauging interest in specific topics.
Chances are, what they’re selling you should be selling.
In both of these examples, you can click through to the web
pages of the sites listed and study their respective sales
pages. Look specifically at the “bullet points”. Each of
these represents a potential idea for your next ebook.
2. AMAZON.COM.
From the world’s largest search engine we move to the
world’s largest bookstore. At Amazon.com you’ll really get
your creative juices fired up.
Again, you’ll want to search the listings by entering a
keyword or keyphrase into the search box on the main page
at Amazon.com.
You’ll get a returned listing of numerous books, courses
and other periodicals. Search these listed items for ideas
for your own ebook.
— Example —
If you were to search for “Homeschooling”, you’d find a
variety of ideas just waiting in the listing of books
available, including: homeschooling for special needs
children, getting starting in homeschooling, choosing
curriculum, homeschooling field trips, homeschooling
support groups, homeschooling for various ages (I.E. Pre-K,
Elementary, Junior High, High School, etc.), homeschooling
for Christians, etc.)
Any of these listings (and the dozens of others listed)
would be great ideas for the topic of your next ebook.
— Example —
Pay particular attention to the first page of the listing.
Amazon ranks their listings based on popularity of actual
sales volume. In other words, #1 is a better seller than
#50. This is a ready-made indicator of demand!
3. MAGAZINES.COM.
After visiting the world’s largest search engine and the
world’s largest bookstore, it’s time to take a quick stop
at the world’s largest periodical store, Magazines.com.
You’ll find every imaginable magazine listed at this site.
The interesting part (and useful to you as a research tool)
is this: you’ll also find the COVER of usually a recent
copy of each magazine.
That is, you can search for “Parenting” and the engine will
return a listing of magazines related to that topic. You
can then click on the image of the magazine cover and
you’ll be shown a larger copy of that cover where you can
read the contents. (I.E. “How To Raise A Stubborn Child”,
“27 Ways Discipline In Public” and “The Real Key To Your
Child Getting Better Grades”.)
Each of these “cover stories” represents an idea for your
next ebook.
The best part about it is this: the publishers of these
magazines have done the research for you! They’ve measured
the level of interest for these ideas and found it high
enough to warrant not only writing content about them, but
referencing that content on the cover of the magazine!
That’s your hint. People want this information.
So, there you have it, 3 “idea hangouts” where you can find
ready-made, in-demand, red-hot topics for your next ebook.
Happy hunting!
Infoproducts – The Real K.E.Y. To Becoming A Successful Ebook Writer
There must be some reason why certain ebook writers are
successful and others are not.
In other words, why do some authors make high six-figure
incomes (even seven-figures!) and others barely make enough
to cover their hosting fees?
There must be some reason for the difference in level of
success, right?
There is.
In fact, there are three “reasons” why that I want to share
with you now. I’ve used the word “K.E.Y.” as an acronym to
reveal these three elements of successful ebook publishing.
1. K = KEEP it concise.
One of the biggest mistakes ebook writers make is starting
their project with the idea in mind that their ebook must
be a certain number of pages in length.
That is, they assume the ebook should be 50 pages or 100
pages or even 200 pages in order to be desirable to
consumers.
Wrong. Ding. Thanks for playing.
Much more important than QUANTITY is QUALITY. Almost every
potential customer in your target market is considerably
more interested in learning something useful than they are
reading a bunch of commentary that has little or no real
value to them.
The ability to concisely (yet comprehensively) share
content that is practical is a must if you want to be
successful in the information business. No fluff. No
filler. No fat. Just the meat.
That’s what consumers want. Especially today in our fast-
paced, instant, I-want-it-now society.
And chances are you are much more likely to write a 30 page
manual and get it done than you are to slave over trying to
measure up to a 200 page masterpiece.
Your first key to success is “keep it concise”. Share what
you need to share in the least amount of pages as possible.
It doesn’t have to be the great American novel. This isn’t
Hemingway.
2. E = ENJOY yourself.
I simply must mention that if you enjoy your “work” then
you are exponentially more likely to complete your ebooks
than those who reluctantly or grudgingly write.
Seriously, don’t underestimate what I’m saying here.
You’ll get much more done as a writer by having fun with
your subject matter.
That’s the beauty of information publishing. YOU get to
pick the topic. A topic of interest – of passion – to you
as the author. Something you find enjoyable, even
exhilarating.
To be sure, you want to choose topics that are in demand
and have a ready-made audience awaiting who are willing to
purchase them. But, at the same time, you can look for
those marketable topics that appeal to your interests and
expertise.
I don’t care how “profitable” a subject may be, I’d never
take it on as a project of mine unless I got some sense of
satisfaction or enjoyment in writing about it.
Instead, look for those things that you are already talking
about anyway. And then write what you’ve been talking
about.
3. Y = YIELD results.
Finally, I must exhort you to “yield results”. That is,
you simply must stick to it and finish the job.
I cannot tell you how many people that I’ve met online who
struggle with the affliction “short-of-the-finish-line-it
is”.
They begin running the race with gusto. They pick their
topic like it was a Nike outfit. They outline their ebook
like they just heard the starting gun fire. They come up
with ideas to include in their work like they were
sprinting down the track.
And when they round the first corner, they start slowing
down. Before they know it, they’re up in the stands
watching others cross the finish line.
That’s why I am adamant about telling you the golden rule
of ebook content: Never start something you can’t finish
in 30 days.
With any new ebook you are planning on writing, choose the
topic and outline it in such a way that you can complete
the content within one calendar month. Anything that goes
beyond that period of time is likely going to be discarded
somewhere past the starting gate and before the finish
line.
It’s important that you set for your goal a reasonable,
reachable amount of pages for your ebook … such as 30
pages. Then, divide that goal number of pages into your 30
days. In this example, it would mean writing just ONE page
per day (very realistic!) for 30 days and your ebook will
be completed.
Victory! The finish line!
Certainly there are a wide variety of other “keys” to being
successful as an ebook writer (choosing the right topics,
learning to outline well, brainstorming ideas, marketing,
etc.) but these three form a solid foundation for you to
build upon as you continue to learn more about information
publishing.
K = KEEP it concise.
E = ENJOY yourself.
Y = YIELD results.
See you on your victory lap!
