By Michelle McIntyre
Reposted with permission from Michelle McIntyre Communications.
Reposted with permission from Michelle McIntyre Communications.
Oakland-based business coach for midlife entrepreneurs,
Dina Eisenberg recently spoke to my Women in Consulting (WIC) group in Los
Gatos about how to kick start an information product or “infoproduct”
business.
An information product is any product or service that
you can sell to people to provide them with information. It includes e-books,
books, audios, CDs, DVDs, seminars, videos, tele-seminars and more.
Because the event description mentioned her law degree
and creating a "passive income," I was expecting tips on
self-employed (S.E.) IRAs and 401Ks. I had just set up a S.E. 401K so I figured
it will probably be redundant to what I already just learned after spending
hours with a Fidelity representative to set up my own plan. I went to the
meeting anyway for the networking.
I was pleasantly surprised when Eisenberg started
talking though.
What it was really about was creating sustainable income
to make, what Eisenberg calls “a cushion for life's bumps.” Consultants
and entrepreneurs who are typically actively involved in delivering their
service benefit from creating passive income streams that work, even when they
cannot.
A self-proclaimed “information product junkie,”
Eisenberg has also produced a range of products from online courses to retreats
and subscription programs.
She said it all started when her husband, whom she
considers a successful entrepreneur just like herself, went on disability for
two years due to a medical issue that has since mostly gone away. He was her
fiancé at the time.
She shared her tactics with the consultants, many of
whom had created their own infoproducts. Several consultants had their products
on hand and the talk turned into a brainstorm and information share of sorts
instead of just a presentation.
Two of her messages stuck in my mind.
First,
start charging! Yes, the internet is awash in free
material however, people will pay for the exact right product that solves their
specific problem at that time. Don't assume you have to start with free.
Second,
ask first. The difference between a profitable infoproduct
and one that flops is research. Search Linkedin threads and comments for
a wealth of topic ideas for your information product.
Here are related Twitter handles.
WIC: @WIConsult
Dina Eisenberg: @DinaEisenberg
The author of this post: @FromMichelle
Michelle McIntyre is a blogger and high tech PR consultant based in Saratoga, Calif. She's also the director of marketing communications for the Silicon Valley International Association of Business Communicators and on the executive team for TEDxSanJoseCA.
