For over 3 years now I create and sell (more or less) high-ticket information products. What started as a desire to monetise my content and passion, has now become my core expertise and the heart of my business.
And if you’re helping others with your knowledge and experience, I sincerely believe that information products are THE BEST WAY to start and scale a profitable online business. Period.
You can leverage your time, especially if you’re doing mainly 1on1 service oriented work now, and you can use this unlimited power of the internet to find a lot of new customers from all over the world, if you know how.
And btw. when I say information product – or shorter: info product – I mainly mean an online video-course in a private membership site, focused on solving one single problem and helping to get one single outcome. (There are others, like eBooks, Audios, but this is the most profitable type.)
So I started with my first personal development info product called „The System“ in 2013 as my first real big training-program (maybe some of you still remember this launch). It was already good and showed the potential, but I knew that I could improve on this.
I relaunched it in 2014 as Personal Breakthrough Academy and was able to multiply my sales-revenue by the factor 12!
And since then I was able to understand this business even better. Naturally I did a lot of mistakes in the beginning. They’re the kind of newbie mistake people make when starting out.
So if you’re interested in creating and selling your own highly profitable information products, here is a way to shorten your learning curve significantly by avoiding these Top 10 mistakes:
1. Waiting Too Long To Get Started
This sounds weird but not getting started is the biggest time-waster when it comes to creating a profitable online business around your expertise. Especially with information products, you can get stuck in thinking about it.
Or, even when you’ve started creating your product, you can get stuck in perfectionism and structure or create „better“ or more content …which often is totally unnecessary, people usually don’t want more content, it overwhelms them.
Sometimes you just have to stop thinking and start doing.
2. Not Being Passionate About It
Since creating high-ticket info products is a pretty big undertaking, which can pay off big if done right, you want to make sure that it’s about a topic you care about.
If you’re passionate about building a successful business online and growing your revenue, that also helps.
3. Not Creating What People Want
This is critical. It must be understood in order to succeed with information products.
Creating an info product is not primarily about what you want to create (this is only half of the success-formula). It’s primarily about what people want. It’s what your potential customer is already actively looking for.
That means you want to take a look at your target market and see if there is a desire and actual need for you product.
And you see this by a) competition and b) active requests, like search volume on your main keyword on Google.
4. Not Knowing Your Ideal Costumer
So that means when you want to create a powerful solution for your customers, you need to really understand that person. You need to understand the pain and the desire in order to create a truly irresistible product.
So talk to your potential customer, survey them and build a profile of your ideal client, up to the point where you give this person a name.
5. Not Selecting The Right Customer For You
You need to select THE RIGHT customer for your solution.
For instance B2C (think: weight loss) is broader but less pricy than B2B (think: business growth).
6. Not Being Specific
Specific sells. Unspecific and broad does not sell (very well).
You want to create a specific solution to a specific problem.
You want to craft a specific message and then (very important) work on it and polish it so it gets really magnetic for this customer.
7. No Step-By-Step System
The success (and attractiveness) of your info product depends on if your potential customer can see her/himself getting the result you’re promising.
And after the sale (which is most important to create repeat customers and build a real business), it only depends on if your customer is able to create this result.
So the best and easiest to understand way is to create your product as a step-by-step system, your customer can walk through and advance one small baby-step at a time.
8. Not Using Video
Video is the best format to teach and also to sell. It also has the highest perceived value of all media-formats.
So use video in your products and in your marketing materials!
If you’ve never stood in front of the camera, then a) start out (it’s soo much fun and you learn a lot about yourself) and b) you can use a lot of video-types without you in front of a camera, for instance using powerpoint/keynote or onscreen presentations, which both are VERY easy to do.
9. Doing It All Alone
No one can succeed all alone. I accelerated my online business the most when I started learning from others and connected with the right partners.
Not only does this give you the necessary knowledge and breakthrough insights you need, it also helps you to keep your motivation up – or get you through tough times when you probably would quit if you’d do it all alone.
So start learning and surrounding yourself with the right people, who’ll support you on your way.
10. Not Doing A Launch
When you’re info product is done, the worst thing you could possibly do is to „put it out there“ and hope that someone will buy.
You need to take control of this process and plan a proper product launch.
Hallo Myrko. Du sprichst auch Deutsch, oder? Sehr guter Beitrag. Kannst du auf dem YT Channel auch mal sagen, wie genau du die Videokurse erstellst. Vielleicht ist es aber auch nur eine Verwechselung.
Hello Myrko,
thanks for the useful and practicable tips.
I also see no. 1 as the most essential point regarding the preparation and creation of digital information products. Many people like unfortunately myself tend to act like a perfectionist and therefore lose their focus of what really matters. This means you get started but never come to a satisfying result. It’s way better to have an authentic and problem-solving product than an a 100% perfect and extremely artificial product.
Best regards,
Christian
Exactly right Christian. Customer like a great product but that usually means giving them the knowledge that they need. Not more. And not less.
Hey Myrko,
I haven’t read your post yet, but wanted to post this before I got soaked into the post and eventually forget.
When viewing your website on Mac (Chrome & Safari), your opt-in pop up does not show correctly.
Here’s a link to a screenshot of what I’m seeing: https://www.dropbox.com/s/nw7mihknqqctiaw/Screenshot%202015-09-03%2014.38.11.png?dl=0
Just wanted to give you a heads up!
Looking forward to reading this post. I’m launching my first info product soon (still debating between ebook *already done* and video course).
Unfortunately your dropbox-link shows „The file you’re looking for has been moved or deleted.“
those are very smart tips
you just pointed out the reasons so many people fail to sell things online
this article is very informative, thank you
Yeah thanks Farouk. I always say you can make a mistake once, but that should be it. We learn by experience and from our mistakes.
Awesome list, it really points out a lot of my own mistakes!
I’ve especially struggled with number 1 – not getting started. Always thinking that I’m not ready, I’ve constantly been putting off creating an info product of my own. And I guess this is the most important step of all too – if you don’t get started, none of the other things are going to matter!
Thanks for the motivation!
Exactly Mathias! Plus: the moment you get started, your learning curve accelerates like never before. Soon you’ll be „the expert“.
Hi Myrko,
1. Waiting Too Long To Get Started – This speaks to me on so many levels! My perfectionism slows me down like a turtle stuck in toffee.
I have to just literally snap myself out of it and say… „Stop thinking and get acting“. It can take me ages to get started but once I do I fly through and catch up on time!
Naomi
Knowing this is hopefully a constant reminder in the back of our heads to not overthink it and to get going instead. I hear this one over and over again and it’s the simplest thing to do.
I’m guilty of it myself, so I try to push myself to act despite not knowing it perfectly yet.