If you’re a small business owner who is interested in creating information products but haven’t quite stepped fully into the “creating” part, you may be hesitating because you think, “Wow, an information product, that seems like a big project to take on. I want to wait until I’ve done some research, become a better writer, and started a blog”
This article is for you.

The Key is Offering Helpful Information

An information product is written or recorded information that helps your customer solve a problem or get something done. A successful product helps your customer solve the problem faster or accomplish a task faster and with more ease.

For example, I recently bought a MacBook to replace my Windows-based Notebook computer.

While everyone has told me how easy Macs are and how awesome they are to use I’ve been using Windows exclusively for over 10 years. I’m finding that tasks I’m used to doing in Windows are done very differently on my Mac.

I would love to find a book or guide or class that would show me how to do all my everyday activities on a Macbook.

I’m betting most long-time Mac users wouldn’t think setting up a project file on the Mac’s hard drive would be any big deal.

But if you’re not used to using Apple products, it’s cumbersome and frustrating.

Helpful Information Can Come In a Simple Package

The state of technology today makes it seem like we should all be producing full-length motion pictures on our smart phones. And if you have the talent and expertise, you can produce some very cool multimedia work.

The truth is simple information can be easy to put together. For example, one of the easiest and most useful information products are “Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) documents. As the name implies, FAQs are the questions that get asked most by customers, clients and people using software applications with answers to those questions.

FAQ’s have an easy structure, they’re easy to create, and easy to use.

In fact, my personal bias is towards making information products as easy and intuitive to use as possible. My preference is for people to spend their time and energy applying what they learn rather than wading through difficult language, badly organized instructions.

Another simple but valuable way to package what you know is the “Top Ten List”

Top Ten Lists: Easy to Create, Easy to Use, Helpful to Customers

Top ten lists are a short list of the best or worst in a particular category.  For example:

• 10 best vacation spots for families
• 10 best free applications for iPhones
• 10 most memorable events in 2010
• 10 most useless gadgets
• 10 worst movies in 2010

In addition to being easy to come up with top ten lists provide some novelty and entertainment in otherwise dry topics. If you find it challenging to come with compelling ways to talk about what you do, the top ten format allows you to spice up your delivery.

For example, television personality, David Letterman, has presented hilarious takes on topics as varied as:

• Laundry Products (“Top 10 Fears of Snuggle, the Fabric Softening Bear”)
• Parenting (“Top 10 Signs Your Kid’s Had a Bad Day at School”)
• Business (“Top 10 Signs You’ve Hired a Bad Accountant”)

Although they can be lighthearted, even irreverent, when the information in these lists is useful to your customers, you are offering an information product that has real value.

Top ten lists are also  relatively easy to market because a numbered list of superlatives (7 best chicken recipes, 5 most kid-friendly movies) because our brains look for ways to make sense of new information and when we provide information on categories (food, relationships, business) and comparisons (best, worst, most helpful)  we’re creating processing “shortcuts” for our audience.

How to Create Top Ten List Info Products Your Customers Will Love (in 4 easy step)

Step #1 Brainstorm Common Issues and Problems Your Customers Face

There are a couple ways to come up with customer issues and problems:

• Frequently-asked questions
• Costly common mistakes

Note: You’re brainstorming here which means you’re going for quantity not quality. See if you can come up with at least 15 items in your list.

Example:

Ellen Graham, owner of WonderPups, offers classes and private instruction for puppy owners. Here are some issues she often sees first time owners struggling with:

• Adopting puppies younger than 8 weeks (“they need to be socialized by their mother”)
• Not learning to establish themselves as the leader (“dogs are very sensitive to social status, they need to know who’s in charge”)
• Yelling at when the dog misbehaves (“dogs have better hearing than us — a louder voice doesn’t teach the dog anything”)
• Think disciplining the dog is being mean (“dogs need gentle but firm and consistent training to learn — ‘spoiling’ your dog doesn’t do anyone any favors especially your dog.”)

Ellie says, “If owners of ‘problem dogs’ just knew about one of two of these issues, it would save them so much frustration. It’s heartbreaking to see someone have to get rid of a dog because of behavior that could have easily been avoided.”

Step #2. Look at your list and select between 5 and 10 items

Ideally you’re looking for list items that represent your best solutions/answers and cover the topic without duplication.

Step #3. Decide what to call your list

You can have some fun and be creative here. There’s nothing wrong with calling your list “Top 10 Best” but there are lots of “Top 10″ lists and “7 Best” type products out there.

A good list name can also make it a lot easier to market your product.

Step #4. Add some useful commentary or detail for each item on your list

This is where you get to share your experience and know-how and create a product that is uniquely yours.

Example:

Jeffrey is an interior designer who specializes in mid-20th century design. He’s studied architecture and industrial design and scours estate sales and auctions for well-preserved furniture and furnishings. He recently put together an ebook on finding good values in vintage furniture titled, “Thrift Shop Chic: 10 Secrets for Finding Big Style at Small Prices.” Here an example of an item with Jeffrey’s very helpful insider commentary

“Thrift Shop Chic Secret # 1 Ignore trends: buy what you love

“When I was little my great aunt had a pale green ceramic end-table in the shape of an elephant. She had gotten it during a trip to India. I always thought it was the coolest even though most of the family referred to it as “Aunt Gertie’s Green White Elephant” because they thought it would be the one thing no one would want when Aunt Gertie passed away.

“Well of course I was happy to get the end table when Aunt Gertie moved into an assisted living residence. That was 20-years ago.

“It’s hilarious because today, ceramic end tables are all the rage and I see ones that are identical to Aunt Gertie’s selling for thousands of dollars. The tables are quite in demand and even knock-offs go for $250 and up.”

Bottom Line

If you’re like many of the business owners I talk with who love the idea of creating and selling information products but are intimidated by the the demands of creating a product, start with something simple but useful.

Top ten reports are one type of “fool-proof” product: they’re easy to come up with, fun to sell, intuitive to use, and helpful to your customers.

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 4th, 2010 at 7:53 am and is filed under Product Development. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.