01 Jun 8 Steps to Create and Market an Information Product in One Week

You have a small business. You have knowledge and expertise….but you really need more income and you need it quickly. The fastest way to create some cash flow and build your subscriber list or your social media following is to create an information product. There are a number of easy-to-create information products you could choose but let’s talk here specifically about creating a simple report or e-book in just one week. Many people hesitate because they think product creation is too difficult. This article will show how easy it really is!

I want to be clear that I’m not promoting the idea of “make money fast” because that is not how you build a business. Building a sustainable, income generating business involves strategy, creating a multiple streams of income business design and following a specific plan. However you can boost your business results by following these simple suggestions for generating simple report or e-books and it will give you the confidence of knowing that you can generate a few hundred or a few thousand dollars easily. Just follow these steps.

Step #1: Leverage your previous work.

If you’ve been doing business online for a while you have probably written a good number of articles and blog posts. Go through them all and group them according to general topics or categories that could work together in a report. You may well find that you have several groupings with a number of articles in each one.

Step #2. Organize and Categorize.

Put the articles in each category into a logical order that would not confuse your reader. See if you need to fill in any “information gaps” by creating a few more articles. Each article will be a chapter in your report.

Step #3. Research.

Use the Google keyword research tool to do some research to find out what people are actually searching for in your category on the Internet. The keyword phrases people are searching for may be different than you think. Then go to Amazon.com to see what book titles have been written in your categories.

Step #4. Create a Compelling Title.

Using your research, create a report title. Try to include a popular keyword phrase. State a benefit people will get from buying your report or create curiosity to learn more. Look at the title of this article. Isn’t the title what made you decide to read more? The title is what will convince people to buy so it is very, very important.

Step #5. Create Your Report

Put your articles together in a logical sequence in #12 font and in an easy-to-read font like Arial. Create a title page with some graphic interest—maybe a photo or clip art. Consider creating a table of contents which helps organize your report. Add photos on some pages for visual interest. Finally add some links back to pages on your website that sell related products. Your report will easily end up being 10 pages or more with maybe 6 to 8 articles.

Also create a cover graphic if possible. This will make your report more legitimate and tangible. There are many e-cover creation software options or an e-book cover creation graphic design service will do it for under $100.

Step #6. Do the Plumbing

Create a sales page on your website and a thank you page. Create a buy button. Create a mailing list in your e-mail marketing program where buyers will be subscribed after they buy. The backend setup can be more complex to include a squeeze page and up-sell option, but this is the most basic set up

Step #7.  Start marketing your report.

Price your report under $20— $17 is a good price. Then begin to spread the word on your social media sites. Send e-mails to your subscribers. Set a deadline for people to purchase the report at this price and stick to it. Ask your affiliates to sell the report and give them a big commission. I’ve even paid out 100% just to increase my subscriber list!  List your report on e-book listing sites, including itunes. Feature it in all of your online and offline marketing and on your blog. All you need to sell is 10 copies to make almost $200. That seems doable, doesn’t it? But chances are that you can sell well more than that if you keep promoting your report.

Step #8. Repeat this system

Now you can create multiple reports and even bundle them together and price the bundle higher. There are many options. Make this creation process part of your weekly activity. You could even hold a contest and give one away! Ask people to post comments on your blog telling you why they should win the report and you’ll create lots of buzz.

Learn more about how to turn your knowledge into lucrative products here