18 Nov Increase Sales–Turning Your Ideas into Information Products

If you’ve been in business for a while you’ve probably got what I call a personal business library. This is an accumulation of your written materials, like articles and blog posts, as well as audios, charts, graphs, checklists, or videos. In addition you have information from other experts and you have research you’ve done in your niche.  If you’re not at that point, don’t worry, you’ll get there quickly with a process. The first thing you’ll need to do is make three detailed lists.

1. what are the problems people face that are so urgent they’d pay me to solve them OR what are they ready to buy because they absolutely love it (hobby markets)
2. what are the mistakes people make that get them to this point of frustration or need
3. what are the specific, concrete results they want from me and that I can honestly deliver and become the solution to the problem

This is not quite as easy as it sounds. When I work on this with clients I coach them a lot on getting inside the head of their typical client who is always asking “what’s in it for me”?. And we work on not being vague but being very specific. For example, I’ve worked with many life coaches who’ve come up with results like “they’ll be happier” or they’ll be more joyful or they’ll reach their dream. This is wonderful but it’s not what people pay for. Whatever is making them unhappy is what they want resolved. Maybe they’ll be able to improve their relationship with their spouse or kids. Maybe they’ll get the courage to move out of a dead end job and start a business. Of course that will bring them more happiness, but they see the immediate goal and not the bigger picture. This is where being specific about your profit niche helps you be more specific about the results you get.

From these three lists we begin to figure out the exact step-by-step process that will take your clients from problem to result. Think of the things you repeat over and over with your clients. Whether you’re a coach or a dentist, a web designer or a corporate trainer, you will find yourself going through the same learning curve with your clients. At this point my wonderful clients work with me to develop that journey into a step by step system. People love systems. They make sense and they’re easy to follow. They show that you’re not just making it up as you go along and perhaps forgetting a step or two, but that you’ve carefully thought out and tested your system. This absolutely always brings an aha moment when my clients see that the key to standing out in a crowded marketplace and never struggling again to figure out what products to create lies in this Personal Profit Process.

From this process it’s easy to see what products and programs to offer. Many creative people end up trying to randomly turn idea after idea into a product or service and hope something will stick. Or they find just one thing that works and they offer it again and again. But once a client uses your service they cycle out of your business and you’re stuck constantly scrambling for more clients. Once you create a process that’s uniquely yours and you know the goal of the process is to give your clients the exact results they have indicated they want, then your struggle to know what products will sell is over. Then all you need to do is turn your process into information products that get clear results for your clients and that create passive and recurring income. These products can be delivered in many formats such as:

• mini e-courses
• e-books or reports
• audio series-with or without transcripts
• video series
• action workbooks
• home study programs
• and membership programs, which can take many forms

Take a coach who works 50 hours a week privately coaching maybe 20 clients a month. Cut back on the private coaching and add group membership programs, and passive income products and in a short time her income doubles and her work hours decrease. I’ve led many people through this process. It’s really amazing. So if you’re struggling as a coach, consultant, author, or knowledgeable expert start creating programs and products that can reach larger groups of people and involve less of your time and you’ll see a huge increase in your income and you’ll help more people at the same time.

Would you like to use add information products to your business? Discover how my clients and I added $10,000 a month to our income by turning knowledge into lucrative products and programs. Click here for a free webinar training.