There’s never been a better time to get into the information marketing business.
As I teach at the Information Marketing Academy (one of the two-day flagship courses in the EC Training Academy), information marketing is all about:-
Identifying a responsive market with high interest in a particular group of topics and/or expertise….
…then packaging information, products and services that match those interests. These can be written or assembled by you or by others and…
…devising ways to sell and deliver it.
An info marketing business can be an interesting sideline or retirement business with no stress, lots of flexibility and portability and, if done well, easily a few thousand pounds a month of an income. Or, it can become a full-time business, providing a high six or seven figure income and, if desired, prominence, celebrity and a saleable asset.
There’s Never Been a Better Time
Fuelled by the ever increasing pressure on people’s time to receive information in a convenient form, there really has never been a better time to establish an info marketing business, which is why I’m sharing my info marketing formula with you this month.
The formula is as follows:
Quality Product
The top six things to think about when you’re building an information marketing business are:-
- The ability to define your ideal customer. This matters hugely. Get this bit wrong and you’ve got no chance of achieving your goals.
- If you want to achieve any kind of scale or sustainability then you need to be unique, or the first in your field.
- Any regulatory considerations have to be covered off. It depends what market you are in but this can be a real constraint in some industries.
- What can be guaranteed? Guarantees are an important part of good info marketing business as you will see in a moment.
- Does the product set up subsequent sales, i.e. is residual income a real possibility?
- The price point should be no less than 10 x your physical cost.
Quality Leads
As with any business, the source of your leads matters – a lot and things like speaking engagements, AdWords, books, articles, press and media coverage and traditional advertising will all play a part here.
However, the two big secrets to effective lead generation are:-
- Your offer matters – hugely!
- Your copywriting. When selling info products, the words you use matter a lot as well.
Marketing Funnel
This is typically the place in the formula where most amateur info marketers fall down. A marketing funnel is something where, when you put leads in the top and then things happen (e.g. emails go out, offers are made, etc) and out of the bottom, hours or days later, comes a sale. The space on these two pages doesn’t allow me to go into any more detail here (which is why the course is so important) but be under no illusion – your funnel is absolutely on your Critical Path to success.
Risk Reversal
If you are able to position your information product in such a way that there is little or no perceived risk to your potential purchaser then your sales will typically increase. Lots.
It doesn’t have to be a money back guarantee and often things that the business is doing anyway can be repackaged as guarantees to strengthen the overall proposition.
The one thing that is certain though is that if you omit this part of the formula then your sales and returns will be diminished.
Residual Income
This is the Holy Grail of all good info marketing businesses. Residual income is when the cash keeps coming in every month or every quarter. Automatically.
Entrepreneurs Circle is an example of a business with residual income because our Members pay their subscription each month via direct debit. There is ongoing monies coming in each month that are not dependent on specific amounts of work being undertaken nor in specific sales activity happening.
Residual income truly is a powerful thing. It’s a wonderful feeling to know that on the first of the month all the bills are covered this month and that all the sales that you do make are just enhancements and improvements to your profit.
Not every info marketing business has residual income and nor does it necessarily need it, but it is absolutely a worthy and proper consideration when you are mapping out the business you are going to build.
Big Back End
Whilst most information marketers think the purpose of getting a customer is to make a sale, the really successful info marketers recognise that the exact opposite is true:-
The purpose of a sale is to get a customer!
It’s much easier to sell things to someone that has already bought from you. Your marketing costs are less, the credibility and trust is already built up and, if you’re doing your job properly, then you understand a lot more about your customers as well so, what you offer them, can be much more tailored to precisely what they need.
In all sustainable information marketing businesses, the back end is a significant player – often it is a bigger commercial entity than the original business itself.
So that’s a whistle-stop tour of what’s covered in the Information Marketing Academy.
You’re never too young (or too old!) to establish your info marketing business but when you do, it really does pay to follow the formula and build it properly.
