Physical Info Product Creation: Using Multiple Formats to Multiply Profits

No matter what type of products you're creating or what market you're in, you should seriously consider offering your products in a variety of formats. This is relatively easy to do and is something you can phase in over time (so you don't necessarily need to hold off releasing your product because you're waiting to add an additional format).

Here are just a few reasons why it makes sense to offer your products in multiple media, including benefits for your customers and for YOU: Read more

Popularity: 8% [?]

6 Tips for Better Recordings When Creating Your Infoproducts

If you're creating audio or video information products, you're probably using one (or more) of the following programs:

• Camtasia (screencasts)
• Sony Movie Studio / Sony Vegas (live-action video shots)
• Audacity (audio recordings)

No matter which program you're using, here are a few tips for getting better results in your final product:

1.  Record in Short Clips
It's much easier to figure out how to split your information into manageable chunks, then record each piece individually.  Once you're done, you can splice them together so things appear seamless.  But if you have to go back and re-record something, it'll be much easier to do.  The worst thing to have happen is to record a long clip and then realize you need to re-record something that's in the MIDDLE of that clip.  Save yourself the headache and record in smaller pieces.  This applies to audio and video.

2.  Don't Stop Recording When You Make a Mistake
This also applies to audio and video.  You're going to flub a few lines…it's almost guaranteed.  But don't worry about it and definitely don't start back over from the beginning.  Just pause for a few seconds, collect your thoughts, then repeat whatever it was that came out wrong (if only we could do this in real life, right?).  The good thing about pausing for a few seconds is that not only does it give you time to figure out what you want to say, but it also makes it easier to edit that section when you get around to editing.

3.  Be Sure to Use a USB Headset/Microphone
For audio or Camtasia type videos, be sure to use a USB headset.  You'll have the option of choosing a USB headset or one that plugs directly into your sound card.  Choose the first option since you'll get WAY better results.  Connecting to the sound card causes too much noise and your audio will sound unprofessional on most computers.  And get a headset, not a desktop microphone.  There's too much variation as you move closer or farther away from a desktop microphone.  The headset mic pretty much stays the same distance from your mouth.  Speaking of which…

4.  Be Sure the Microphone is Far Enough Away From Your Mouth
Do a quick test run and see how it sounds.  If you're popping p's, try moving the microphone away from your mouth…either higher above your mouth or below your chin.  It'll still pickup your voice but you won't have to worry about those annoying spikes that are made when speaking certain words or letters.

5.  With Camtasia, Don't Move the Mouse So Much
Don't move the mouse in Camtasia recordings unless you have to.  The less motion there is on the screen, the easier it is to edit later on without things looking weird.  But if you mess up something you said while you were scrolling the screen for absolutely no reason, it's going to look weird when you edit that out since the screen will jump from one place to the next.  Minimal motion is a good thing and makes life easier later on.

6.  Edit Ruthlessly
This is where your project goes from sounding like a high school kid made it versus sounding like a pro.  Little things can go a long way, like of course, editing out those little goofs, editing out large gaps of silence (maybe while you were thinking about what to say next while recording), and getting rid of those annoying sounds of you taking a breath (no on really wants to hear that), the umms and ahhs and other random sounds.  For some things, you might want to keep the same amount of space but just get rid of the sounds, so just insert silence over the noises and you'll be good to go. 

And yes, some will probably say just release it.  It doesn't have to be perfect. 

Ask yourself which version you'd prefer.  You'll make the right decision.

Popularity: 61% [?]

Benefits of Being in the Physical Information Product Business

I was talking with a friend of mine about some of the upsides to being in the infoproduct business, specifically selling PHYSICAL infoproducts.  If you're not already selling information products, then perhaps this list will help highlight some of the reasons why it's such a powerful (and profitable) business model.

Zero Inventory
You don't have to hold any inventory in your home office, basement or wherever you work out of.  Using print-on-demand services or other means for product fulfillment means that's one less step in the process that you have to be involved with.  And more and more companies are popping up that offer print-on-demand services, making it easier than ever to use that sort of streamlined delivery method while taking yourself out of the equation (if you choose to).

Low Overhead
Sure, you can build a business with tons of employees, staff, a huge building and tons of equipment.  But wouldn't it be better to not have all that overhead?  That's just more things to manage, more things to go wrong and much more cost.  There are hardly any overhead costs with an infoproduct business.

Speed to Market
With the right tools, you can have a product created and out to market relatively quickly.  Instead of needing thousands of dollars of equipment, like what might have been the case in the past, now you can just use off-the-shelf software and readily available consumer electronics to create fantastic, profitable products.

Higher Perceived Value
You can typically charge more for a physical info product thanks to the higher perceived value.  I know I'd rather have a DVD that I can refer to later if I need to rather than wondering if that website with the online tutorial is still going to be up and running 2 years from now.  There's a place for online info products, but in general, it's just as easy to deliver a finished product to your customers and take advantage of the higher perceived value that comes with that.

High Margins
There are HUGE profits to be made in the infoproduct business.  You've seen how much a typical product sells for.  And you know that the actual "hard costs" aren't anywhere close to that (in most cases).  If you have a bunch of great info that you've packaged into a DVD that sells for $50, you're keeping something like 90% - 95% of that as profit.  That's tough to find in any business.

Repeat Customers
While not something that's unique to an infoproduct business, you can certainly foster repeat purchases from your customers.  That's especially true if you produce quality products in a market that's information intensive.

Leveraging What You Know and Replacing Manual Labor
Creating infoproducts allows you to leverage what you know and generate income from that know-how.  Rather than "doing" the thing, you can show people "how to do" the thing.  That means you're also replacing manual labor by having a product, freeing more of your time.  You're also able to work once and get paid multiple times for your product.  You can also easily scale this model up by adding additional products.

It's FUN!
Would you rather be creating a new, profitable DVD (or other product) on a topic you enjoy or stuck in some meeting for 4 hours with no one getting anything done?  Easy choice.

 

Popularity: 64% [?]

The Most Popular Posts in the Last 90 Days

I always find it interesting to know what others find interesting. 

So here's a look at some of the most popular posts available here in my little neck of the woods.  I excluded stuff like the "Weekly Roundup" posts and others that were just good info, but not articles per se.  Anyway, here's the list in case you missed one of these:

1. Just amazing…and another reason to have a blog
2. Can You Really Make Money Showing People "How To"?
3. Another Way to Stop Wasting Time on Mundane Tasks
4. The Most Bang for Your Buck Tasks
5. Another Great Reason to Have Your Own Products

I'm using the Popularity Contest Plugin by Alex King which allows you to set how posts are ranked in terms of popularity.  Then it gives you a ton of stats in the backend about the posts on your site. 

You can pull similar data from your log files (like AWStats) or from Google Analytics but those methods don"t allow you to assign weights to different types of posts.  For example, it might carry more weight if a post was reached via a direct link specifically to that post versus it just being one of the 10 posts on your homepage.  Interesting stuff…check it out.

P.S. - A quick tip of the hat to Terry Dean for posting a similar tip on his blog awhile back…prompted me to grab that plugin and take a look at my own stats.  Should be even more interesting once it's been running for awhile.  Thanks Terry.

Popularity: 62% [?]