If you've nearly given up on the thought of having your own information product, don't give up hope now. Follow this simple plan and you'll be publishing your own information products in no time flat.
1) Choose your topic.
Here's your "Get Out of Jail Free" card. If you get beyond this point, you'll have progressed further than 95% of all people involved with internet marketing. So, stop sweating it so much. Picking the topic isn't the stumbling block that most people make it out to be.
You know what most interests you. Now find out if others share your same passion. Do some research to find out whether or not your topic is of any interest to others. The easiest way to gage the demand for your topic is to use a simple software application called Good Keywords, which is available free here:
http://www.goodkeywords.com/
Use the Good Keywords software to find the search frequency (looking at Overture, now Yahoo!) for your main keyword phrase. If your topic is specialized, then step back and look at the bigger picture to read the barometric pressure of your topic.
As an example, if you intended to publish your information product on the advantages / disadvantages of children's tennis shoes that use Velcro straps in place of conventional shoe strings, your "main keyword phrase" might be "children's tennis shoes" as opposed to "tennis shoes with Velcro straps".
You'll get differing opinions from one marketer to the next on what's an acceptable level of "demand". The prevailing opinion says that you should be looking for 50,000 - 90,000 searches per month (minimum) for you main keyword on Overture in order to make your project worthwhile. Well... I don't like generalities much. These kinds of guidelines don't consider the specifics of your product / service. Less may be OK.
Got your topic? Is there demand? Yes? Yes? Good. Let's move on to part 2 of this plan.
2) Find a resource that offers rights (preferably without charge) to republish information on your chosen topic.
This is fairly easy. Here are some of the most popular sites that offer articles with reprint rights:
http://www.articlecentral.com
http://www.articlecity.com
http://www.ezinearticles.com
http://www.goarticles.com
http://ideamarketers.com
http://www.netterweb.com
http://www.turboarticles.com
http://www.valuablecontent.com
For additional reprint rights resources go to Google (http://www.google.com) and search for "your topic"+reprint rights articles. I just did this for "tennis shoes"+reprint rights articles and received 551 references. There's an abundance of information that other authors would be tickled pink to have you share.
3) Identify products and/or services directly related to your topic that you can use to monetize your information product.
This step could involve your own products or affiliate products. If you're unfamiliar with affiliate programs, you promote a product or service as an indepent contractor and the owner pays you a sales commission when visitors you refer make a purchase. That's all there is to it.
4) Review and add commentary on the feature article.
When using an article or information source from another publisher, the normal requirement is that the article be republished in its entirety without alteration and that you included the original author's "resource box" that credits them as the author. This resource box will have a link to their site and should not be changed or omitted.
Occasionally, you'll find an author who offers reprint rights articles AND an affiliate program for their product. This is a beautiful thing, particularly if they allow you to replace the URL in the resource box with an affiliate link of your own.
Your objective at this stage of the game is to review the article that you intend to use and create an introduction of your own and a list of useful resources directly related to the topic being discussed. Simple enough, right? We'll come back to this again shortly.
5) Published the above in an ebook format.
After creating your introductory commentary and resource list, you're going to create your own ebook. This is not difficult; and with new innovations in ebook software, you're going to look like a real pro even if you have no prior experience.
Here are the 3 sections of your soon-to-be-published ebook:
A) Introduction and commentary.
B) Reprint rights article.
C) Resource list.
The introduction can be text only, but if you truly want to connect with your reader, consider adding this as an audio feature.
And how about this?...
Why not read the reprint rights article that you're using?
Again, the audio dimension will help you make a far better connection with your reader than text alone, and even though the article was written by somebody else, your voice gives you "ownership" in the mind of the reader / listener.
Don't discount the powerful effect of audio. By representing yourself with a picture and audio, you've just acheived the status of a real live person. Bonds will be formed and defenses will come down. It's a certainty.
The last component (C above) of this step will be to incorporate your "recommended resources" list, and guess what?...
This is where you can monetize your ebook. These recommended resources could include free tools and services, but also (and more importantly) they should include products that you either own or for which you're an affiliate.
Is the picture coming together now? Great.
6) Offer your ebook.
This simple plan can be fully executed in a day's time. It's simple and you can have fun doing it. Create an entire series on your topic. Once you get your first ebook finished, you'll be cranking out the next, and the next, and the next... Henry Ford would be proud of you.
So, what's your first smash hit going to be?
Ron Hutton is a 20 year sales and marketing veteran with a passion for coaching and training. Subscribe to Ron's ezine, "GoThrive Online", to receive Free Video Tutorials for Internet Marketing and big juicy marketing tips in small, easy-to-chew, bite size servings. Free Video Tutorial for This Article Here: http://www.gothrive.com/send-me-your-ebook.htm