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We live in the century of easily accessible Information. Nowadays, anybody with internet access can use a Search Engine and learn about almost anything – from how to prepare easy vegan recipes to how to groom your pet. Or travel tips about cheap activities in your next destination. Or methods to battle procrastination. Or the latest update on string theory and the universe’s origins (I said almost anything!) And if you have adequate knowledge on a subject? You can make money online! In this post, let me show you how to sell information online.
Information products come in many formats, but basically they pass on useful information to their consumers. But not only information for the sake of it, no. People care about tips that will make their lives easier, they crave for life hacks and advice and guidance on various issues.
All this can be created and delivered electronically, for example in ebooks in PDF format, videos on a password-protected membership site, recorded audio files downloadable from your website.
Why sell Digital Information Products?
Selling digital products has certain advantages over selling physical products. Digital information products are easy to create. All that’s required is time and your mental energy. They are also cheap to create, so that’s a plus investment-wise! If the product doesn’t do well, then you haven’t lost much, money-wise.
You have a good idea? Let your creativity flow and channel it into producing an ebook, an online course, a webinar or an email course, where you build an email list and send a daily/weekly lesson to your subscribers until the course is completed.
Another advantage versus physical products is that their storage is essentially free. Digital products don’t occupy physical space – you can store them in a server, on a cloud, or even on your own computer.
Create and Sell an Online Course
Lets say you have experience on a programming language, like Python. You can use your knowledge to create an online course, where you teach people an introductory class in Python, through online videos and presentations. Or maybe you are following a Pinterest strategy that has resulted in increasing your followers, and you want to teach people how to do the same following your steps.
There are platforms where you can create an online course and sell it. Among the best ones out there are Teachable and Udemy. I have personally bought online courses in both platforms, and I appreciate their variety on offered classes, the expertise of the instructors and the frequent discount offers.
In a similar manner, you can build your own course and sell it on these platforms. The advantage here is that these two online academies have already a big database of established customers, and you can find your audience way easier than selling your course on your own website and waiting until the traffic comes in.
Write an eBook and sell it on Amazon or on your Website
Additionally, you could organize your information into chapters and create your own eBook. Always remember – your quality content is what will bring the good reviews that will convert to more customers. So, make sure you have adequate knowledge of the subject you’re tackling and that you offer useful advice, tips and strategies!
For eBooks and magazines, you can create them in Microsoft Word and then save them as a PDF file, which is the most popular format. For the cover page, search for a freelancer on a website like Fiverr who will create a professional looking cover for you. Prices start as low as $5.
Click here to learn how to build a beautiful WordPress website for free and use it to promote your online course or eBook!
Find a Profitable Market for your Information Products
A rule of thumb for choosing a subject is to start with your own interests, hobbies and passions. It’s far easier to create content for something you already devote many hours of the day to. Not only because you already have a higher than basic level of knowledge, but because creating content is time-consuming and you’re better off in the long run if you enjoy the subject you’re researching and creating content for!
Furthermore, you should do an online research on your chosen subject – your niche – and gauge the market’s needs. Is your subject mentioned on the news, in blog posts, in Facebook groups? Do people buy related products to your niche from Amazon and EBay?
For information products in particular, you can check out Clickbank, which used to specialize only in these but nowadays it has branched out in other areas of interest.
Seek the thriving markets in all these sources and don’t be worried that your niche may be saturated. The online world is huge and full of people interested in many things, plus you will be adding your personal touch to anything you talk about. But don’t fall in the trap of choosing a niche just because it’s profitable and seems like a good trend with sales potential, if you are NOT interested in the least about it. I could never be a convincing fashion blogger, for example, since I don’t care about fashion.
Promote Digital Items as an Affiliate Marketer
Finally, a very viable path that I’m personally following is Affiliate Marketing. You’re going to put some hard work into it in the beginning, since a good foundation for it is creating a website with quality content, but it will eventually pay off if you are consistent! (And everyone knows that those get-rich-quick schemes are usually scams, anyway.)
Maybe you recently read an eBook that taught you a lot about traveling on a budget and you want to share it with like-minded people. Or maybe you are passionate about Social Media Marketing and you just bought an online course that led to big success in your business and you want to tell more entrepreneurs about it. Why not create a website on this specific topic and blog about your niche and write reviews to promote digital products that you have tried and loved?
You are doing your target audience a service, and you are making money along the way by earning a commission from the affiliate program you work with. It’s a win – win in my book!
==> Check out my #1 recommendation on creating a profitable WordPress website to sell information products.
If you have any questions or need help with any of these methods, let me know in the comments below!
Hi Nicky,
Very interesting article on how to sell information online.
One point I would add to “Why Sell Digital Information Products” is that with physical products when you sell it, it’s gone and you have to produce/obtain another one. With digital products, even after you sell it, it’s still there to be sold again and again.
Affiliate Marketing is like that as well, even if you are marketing physical products on which you earn a commission. Once that physical product is sold, the seller replaces it for you, ready to sell again and again.
Thanks for the great article.
Ed
Thank you for stopping by and commenting, Ed!
Great points about physical products, with digital ones there’s an inexhaustible amount in store.
And I totally agree with you about Affiliate Marketing – even if you promote physical products you don’t need to handle them yourself or take care of shipping. That’s a big advantage in my eyes 🙂
I would love to write an ebook, in fact it’s on my (very lengthy) list of things to do! I just need to decide what exactly I want to write about it and make sure it’s useful for people. It seems like a very good way to make a passive income.
It really is amazing how many opportunities there are online now – I really can’t remember how we managed before the days of the internet!
Hi Louise, yes it’s incredible when we think how we were living our lives before the internet took over! There are so many opportunities online, as long as we steer clear of the get-rich-quick schemes. Good luck with writing your ebook, it’s on my to-do list too!