Whether you've never created and info product before, or you've created dozens and you're still not looking forward to your next, this short guide is for you. Just like anything else, when you have a step-by-step plan to follow, it just makes it so much easier than trying to “wing” it and magically (hopefully, somehow) put together a product people will happily purchase from you.
One thing we're not going to cover in this tutorial is niche selection and knowing you've got a hungry market for your product. We've covered that in previous issues, and you can also find plenty of info about niche selection online. Our focus today is actually
creating the best product possible to make the most sales possible and to boost your credibility and bank account in the process.
For the purposes of this tutorial, we're going to assume your product is an ebook, but the steps to making any kind of info product are quite similar.
The 18 Steps To Awesome Product Creation
1. Narrow your focus. One of the most difficult steps of all in creating your product is figuring out what the darn thing is about. Perhaps the most common mistake new product creators make is trying to cover EVERYTHING about a topic. When you do this, you come up with a generic piece of work that generally doesn't help anyone.
So instead, you want to narrow your focus as much as possible. For example, instead of “How to win elections” which is just too broad, you might narrow it down to “How to win local elections.” And you could narrow it even further to something like, “How to win local elections against an incumbent when no one knows your name.” Now that's specific and highly marketable.
Don't worry that you're being too specific – anyone wanting to win a local election is likely to pick this book up, including the incumbent who wants to be ready against the young upstart.
2. You are the expert. Yes, really. The moment you start to create your new product, or even THINK about creating your new product, a gremlin is going to sit down on your shoulder and tell you that you do not know enough. You're not an expert. There are people who know more about the topic than you. And so on.
Bad news: The gremlin is right. There probably ARE people who know the topic better than you.
Good news: So what? If you know the topic better than 95% of people out there, you are an expert in the eyes of 95% of people. Now you just need to wrap your head around that and dive in.
How to boost your confidence: Research. Fill in the gaps, find out what you don't know, and learn enough to know more than 96% or 97% of other people. You don't need to be the world's foremost expert on your topic to create an info product on it, you just need to know more than most and be willing to research to find the facts and figures you don't already have. And thanks to the Internet, research is pretty darn easy. Just be sure of your sources – you don't want to give any false info to your customers.
3. One giant step. Now it's time to take a giant leap forward in your progress. In fact, what you do right now will save you time and make your product better, so plan to invest real effort into this.
You're going to create a DETAILED product outline. Think of your outline as the road map for your info product and it will keep you from getting stalled or going in the wrong direction in creating your product.
Fill your outline in with just as much detail as possible with chapter headings, topics, subtopics, etc. If you've got pictures or videos to add, make a note of where they will go. If you find the order of your chapters or sections isn't right, simply rearrange them until they make sense. The more effort you put into this outline, the easier the entire rest of the process will be for you.
If you want a super simple outline maker tool, try this... http://www.crlsresearchguide.org/NewOutlineMaker/NewOutlineMakerInput.aspx
If you find yourself getting stuck, stop stressing and just start writing. You already have a good idea of what your product will cover - you just need to get it down on paper and in the right order. And the way to do that is start writing, rearranging and adding info until you're completely satisfied. When you are, set it aside and go do something else for the rest of the day.
Seriously. Go away. Come back tomorrow
4. Fresh eyes – better perspective. Now that you've got your outline, you know where you're going and you know how to get there. But guess what? You likely forgot something.
That's why now you're going to look at your outline with fresh eyes. You're no longer “you,” you are your potential customer looking over this product.
What did you miss? What does your customer need or want that you forgot to include? Fill it in.
Now go to Amazon and find books on your niche. Use the “look inside” feature to study their table of contents. You're looking for more things you may have left out of your product.
Fill in the holes, expand sections if needed and see if you're inspired to add anything new, or to even change the heading or focus on certain sections. You're fine tuning your outline so that when you get started on creating this product, it's the absolute best it can be.
One note: This is YOUR UNIQUE product. So don't think that just because a book on Amazon has a chapter you don't have that it means you must include it in your ebook. Use your discretion and stay true to the focus of your product.
5. Be one-of-a-kind. There are a ton of information products out there – a TON. So here's the big question – what makes your info product unique? It's a two-fold answer, and I can even give you the first half – your product is going to be unique because it's created by YOU. And I just happen to know that you are the only “you” in the entire universe.
That's why it's vital that your product convey your uniqueness. Your message, your style, your very essence should permeate through the product, whether it's written, audio, video or whatever. Do not sound like everyone else and above all don't come across as the latest robotic talking head. Instead, imagine you're sitting at the kitchen table explaining this topic to your friend over coffee. That's what you're going for. Are you funny? Then be funny. Are you dramatic? Then be dramatic. Whatever you are when you are being yourself, that's the voice you want to use in creating your product.
The second half of what makes your product unique is going to be by design – it's your angle, your hook, or your unique selling proposition (those are all pretty much the same thing.) Decide what it is that makes your info product different from any other info product on this particular topic. We actually hit on an example of this earlier when talking about the election product - “How to win local elections against an incumbent when no one knows your name.” Your angle is that you're teaching how to go from absolute scratch – no connections, no name recognition, no experience – and win an election, even against the person currently holding the office.
Choosing your angle or USP is vital to making a product that stands apart from all the rest and grabs people's attention, so spend some time on this.
And be sure you write it down and keep it in front of you as you continue this process. From time to time check in with yourself and see if you are sticking to your USP.
And also make sure you're giving your product your own unique brand of “you” as well.
6. Pick a number. Stick to it. At this point you might be thinking the hard part is over, you've got this licked, and your product is practically created. Nothing could be further from the truth.
It's the false sense of security we get from having made a start that often derails us. Sure, we'll get to it. Maybe we'll work on it later today. Which becomes tomorrow. Which becomes next week and then maybe never.
That's why you're going to pick a number and make a schedule. And above all, you're going to stick to your schedule, no matter what. Tell yourself that. Make a pact. Write it down. Tell your family you won't be available during your scheduled writing times. And when it's time to write (or record video, or whatever) then do it.
So what's the number for? It's how many days you're going to work on creating your product. If you can do it in five days, that's terrific. If you need 10, then so be it. But try to choose a number no larger than 14. No matter what your info product is, odds are it can be done in 14 days or less, or your topic is probably not as narrow and focused as it should be.
So pick your number, then divide your outline into that many parts. Schedule your time each day to work it. And then just do it.
7. Give A Smashing Introduction. You can write your product introduction first thing, or wait until the product is finished and write it then, whichever works better for you.
Here's what I want you to know – your introduction sets the tone for the product. It's really the “after purchase sales letter” for your product, what people read after they make the purchase but before they begin chapter 1 (or video 1, or whatever.)
You want to come out of the gate running. In fact your first paragraph of your introduction should be so on-fire compelling that no one could stop reading after that paragraph. And your entire intro should sell the customer on devouring every morsel of your product, much like a movie trailer sells the viewer on watching the movie.
Now you might be asking, “Why?” They've bought the product, so why should I care if they actually consume it? Three reasons: First, if they don't read it, they're more likely to regret their purchase and request a refund. Also, by selling them in the intro on how this product is going to change their lives for the better, you are reinforcing how smart they were to purchase the product in the first place, again reducing your refund rate.
The second reason for writing a great intro is even more important – if they consume your product and love it, what's going to happen? They're going to become die hard customers. They're going to open your emails because they want to know what you have to say. And they're going to buy your future products because they know you deliver great value.
And the third reason is because you never know which of your new customers may also be your next great affiliate if you deliver the goods. The better your product, the more affiliates will want to promote it to their customer list, the more sales you make and the more new customers you have on your mailing list.
So whether you write your introduction before you create your product to set the tone for the whole work, or you wait until the end of your product creation and write it then, make sure that introduction is a great one.
8. Use headlines liberally. Web users tend to read about 25% of what's on a web page and about 50% of what's in an ebook or e-course. Contrast that with over 90% of headlines and subheads being read, and you know exactly how to capture someone's attention: Use headlines and lots of sub-headlines.
You can write these as you're working on your project or at the end, it doesn't matter. What's important is that your headlines and subheads are compelling and draw the reader into reading further, or the video watcher into watching your video all the way through.
How do you use headlines in videos? It's easy if you're doing Camtasia videos, simply place the headlines in your slides. If you're doing screen shots you can still do slides with headlines. And if it's a talking head type of video, you can write the headline on a whiteboard or even note cards in view of the camera, you can speak them with emphasis or add them in later through editing.
9. Tell stories. Whenever possible, illustrate your points through storytelling. In fact, it's a good idea to go through your outline and look for places you can use stories to get your points across. People love stories and actually have a much easier time remembering your points if they're encapsulated within a story.
10. Cast aside your worries. Sometime in the creation process you're going to be revisited by the gremlin on your shoulder, telling you that you are no expert and have no business creating this info product.
What should you do?
Here's one trick: Open up a newspaper or go online to a news site and look at the people in the news stories. As you look at each person or read their name, ask yourself – does this person know what I know about “X?” In almost every case the answer is a resounding “no.” See? You are an expert, you know more than 97% of people out there on your topic, and you need to stop doubting yourself and just get back to work.
11. Remember to follow your outline. If you find yourself diverging from the outline, change the outline to see if your new track is going to work. If it's not, go back to the original outline.
Let's say you're writing about how to grow organic vegetables on tiny pieces of land. You find yourself writing an unexpected chapter on a method that isn't compatible with organic gardening – does it fit in your outline? Doubtful. It might work in a non-organic info product, and so you set it aside for another time. But what if the new chapter is on growing organic flowers? You might place that somewhere in your outline, perhaps near the end. Or it might become an entirely separate bonus.
12. Add graphs, pictures and illustrations anywhere it will help to illustrate what you're teaching. It's just easier for people to learn when they can see what you're talking about. Plus a good visual works just like a headline, in that it grabs attention and gets people reading. So don't be afraid to use plenty of visuals so long as each one helps in conveying what you want to say.
13. Edit your product. If you can, when you're done writing you should set it aside for 24 – 48 hours and then come back and edit it. As you read it, look for anything that might be difficult to understand and either reword it or elaborate on the point to make it crystal clear. Any language that is confusing should be eliminated. And if you've found that you rambled on about something irrelevant, by all means get rid of it.
Tips for editing: Imagine you're the intended audience reading your work for the first time. Would the reader understand what you're saying? Would they be riveted or bored? Is there stuff missing?
Trim long sentences to 25 words or less. Lose the long words and phrases and replace them with short, to the point words. Break up your text into small, manageable pieces with spaces in between.
14. Choose a layout for your ebook. Entire books have been written simply on how to layout a book, so instead of trying to cover it here, I'm going to refer you to an expertly written article for some free advice... http://www.thatscreativeebookdesign.com/design-and-layout-of-your-ebook
15. Go into Beta. That is, choose a small handful of people to show your book to, and get their feedback. Also do another read-through and look for typos and changes you want to make. Make any changes you want based on the feedback.
16. Sit back. Relax. You're just created a killer info product.
17. Don't relax for long – now it's time to get it into the marketplace. Write your sales letter, add bonuses, contact affiliates, email your list – you know the drill.
18. Rinse and repeat. Every time you make an info product it should get a little bit easier because you've done it before. In fact, don't be surprised if product ideas start popping up everywhere – you are, after all, now a bonafide product creator!