Have you put off, or given up entirely, the idea of writing
that book, or creating a CD or DVD, for your business?
Maybe you've let that idea slip away because you thought
your business wasn't suited to it. I mean, what you do is
so individual and personal, or too complicated to explain,
or so intuitive in nature, that it can't be captured in a
product.
Or maybe you already sell a product, and you can't imagine
what a book or CD would possibly do for your business.
These kinds of products- books, CDs, DVDs and their digital
downloadable equivalents: pdfs, mp3s, mpegs - are called
information products, 'info products' for short.
And, if you are putting off creating one, you are doing a
disservice to all the people who are waiting for you.
What's the purpose of having an info product?
Some people will tell you the purpose is to have 'multiple
streams of income' or to 'fill your business to
overflowing.' It's true, a good info product can create
these kinds of results.
But that's not why you create one. If you create it for
that reason, you are chasing the money, and you'll end up
chasing away your customers.
The purpose of an info product is to help the wallflowers.
A wallflower is that term used at dances and other social
events where someone who is feeling a little shy or awkward
will take a seat next to a wall, and plant themselves
there, and never get out on the dance floor.
In junior high I was painfully shy, and lived as a
wallflower. High school wasn't much better, but I was able
to retreat into punk rock and avoid the 'popular' high
school scene.
Even today, as my 20th high school reunion approaches, I
can find myself in wallflower situations. I have better
coping mechanisms, but it's still painful.
How many wallflowers are in your business' dance hall?
People who are struggling with something are unsure of
themselves. They are upset, insecure, hesitant. They want
to dance the tango, but they don't want to look foolish and
be rejected.
Do you think it might be easier for those wallflowers if
you met them at their seat with a glass of punch, and
talked with them awhile, before you even asked them to
dance?
A good information product doesn't recreate your business
to give the full dance-hall experience. It doesn't deliver
the same intimacy, or the same instruction, or the same
in-depth support, or the same results that your main
products or services do. That's not its job.
The job of a good information product is to help people
dance along off to the side, out of the spotlight. This
will not only help them get some of the results they need,
but it will also get them ready to get out on your dance
floor and engage more deeply with what will really help
them: your main products and services.
And, it's not a bad thing that info products can create a
nice flow of income for you as well.
Ready to deliver that glass of punch and create an info
product?
Keys to Creating an Info Product
• What seats are your wallflowers sitting in?
Identify the main hesitations of some of your reluctant
customers. Some common hesitations have to do with:
- Is this weird, or is it normal (do people like me do
this?).
- Does it really work?
- Do you really know what you're doing?
- How does it work?
There are others, including ones specific to your business
or industry. Search your heart, and also ask your newest
clients what concerns they had before they purchased from
you.
• Where does your record skip?
With new clients or customers and in newly-started classes,
you give them explanations, key ideas, and foundational
notions. These notions may be new to your clients, but
you've repeated each of them 1000 times in different
situations.
At a dance, if the record skips, maybe it's a DJ working
the grooves, or maybe it's just a bad scratch. (But you
hear it repeating the same line over and over.)
When you repeat yourself it's like a scratched record- and
you've just found a prime place to focus on a product. Stop
the skipping record, and turn it into a workbook, article,
or recorded audio product.
• Don't forget the how-to's.
In your info product, you want to teach them something, and
include instructions on how to actually do it. But,
remember, that this is a 'getting-ready / dance-along'
product, and not the dance itself.
This means that while you want your how-to's to be
complete, and you expect your reader or listener to apply
them to some extent, don't worry about trying to recreate
the dance hall experience. Because you can't.
Instead ask your heart to show you how much (or how little)
they really need to know to feel comfortable dancing. Lead
them up to the edge of the dance floor, maybe have them
dance along to the music a few steps off to the side. And,
believe me, people can get a lot out of dancing along off
to the side.
Then, they'll be ready for the dance hall. And that's when
you'll find your dance card overflowing with new customers
and clients.
Go mix up that punch, and start serving out info products
to all of your wallflowers.
----------------------------------------------------
Mark Silver is the author of Unveiling the Heart of Your
Business: How Money, Marketing and Sales can Deepen Your
Heart, Heal the World, and Still Add to Your Bottom Line.
He has helped hundreds of small business owners around the
globe succeed in business without lousing their hearts. Get
three free chapters of the book online:
http://www.heartofbusiness.com
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