Who else wants to create information products that solve pressing problems and line your pockets with cash?

If you think information products are limited to ebooks think again. There are dozens of information products that have nothing to do with ebooks that can be created and sold online. Here are some examples:

1. Audio and Video Courses
2. Membership sites
3. High traffic blogs with advertising based revenue streams
4. Data brokering
5. Online communities with multiple revenue streams

Info products aren’t going anywhere either. People will always have a thirst for knowledge. Creating information products can be easier than you think, but I’m not going to lie. Creating an information product will require something of you either in terms of time or money.

That is to say, that you can either do all the work in creating your product or you can pay someone to do it. Creating an information product can be contracted out for less money than you think in many cases.

Here is how I go about creating products:

1. Do your market research
2. Buy competitor’s products
3. Make note of all the things competitor products have in common
4. Identify competitor product weaknesses
5. Identify your product’s strengths and your unique value proposition
6. Decide on the medium (video, audio, ebook, etc…)
7. Create an outline
8. Hire subject matter experts
9. Review and edit
10. Put everything together

If you need to find subject matter experts there are plenty of ways to go about this. You can put ads on Craigslist, contact colleges and universities, go to elance.com, guru.com, odesk.com, ask local non profits such as rotary clubs, contact the Service Corps of Retired Executives (S.C.O.R.E). You can often get expert advice for free.

If you are interviewing people for your content here are some things to keep in mind. Have a list of questions for your interviewee. Let them speak as much as possible. Remember, they are the expert. Six to Eight good questions can usually fill an hour.

Here are some resources for recording phone interviews:

• www.saveyourseminars.com
• teleconference.liveoffice.com
• teleseminarstrategies.com

Check this link for six tools for recording video conferences.

Transcription, graphic design, web design, web development, and programming  services via elance.com, guru.com, and odesk.com.

If I am developing a Web application or a piece of software here is how I do it:

1. Review competitor’s product
2. Find ways to improve
3. Create a very specific step by step outline of exactly what needs to happen when a button is clicked. This must be specific and logical. You don’t need to know anything technical just write down exactly what you want to have happen.
4. Look at job descriptions on Guru, Elance, Odesk to get an idea of technologies used in projects similar to yours.
5. Writeup a basic job description but don’t give any specific details about the project and direct potential candidates to fill out a Non Disclosure Agreement to see a full description.
6. Write up a very detailed job description outlining exactly what you need done, but only provide this after candidates have signed your NDA.
7. Review the guidelines for hiring outsourced contractors.
8. Hire a contractor
9. Install open source helpdesk software on your server.
10. Consider outsourcing support. You can hire people for hourly tasks using ODesk.com

These methods have worked for me and they can work for you. Make sure to read the guidelines for hiring outsourced contractors so you don’t end up getting screwed by contractors who don’t know what they are doing. Just because someone says they know how to do something doesn’t make it true.

I will be coming out with a product soon that covers all of this in depth. Signup for my newsletter and I’ll keep you posted on when that’s coming out. cit34feskm

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