I’m constantly amazed at the amount of content that gets published to the web every single day.
If I just count myself, I probably published a total of 100 website pages from 1997 to the end of 2006. Since then, however, I’ve published more than 2000 articles/posts on the web between my 3 websites, articles I’ve submitted, guest blog posts and content I’ve written for the membership sites I’m a resident expert in.
That’s remarkable. And if you consider that I wrote daily from the beginning of 2007 until some time late 2008, it’s even more remarkable that I’ve produced that much content. Interesting thing is I’m not close to being as prolific as many of the bloggers out there.
But what’s happening with all this content? How are people using it once it’s published? Or two weeks later? Or a year later? Is there something more we can all do with our content then just publish it online and move on to the next post? Perhaps there’s something more we can do with all this content – something that generates income.
What I suggest is package up some of this content and create informational products. Doesn’t matter whether it’s ebooks, e-courses, video tutorials or audio programs, informational products can generate massive revenues. For instance, I know a number of small business owners who are making mid-to-high five-figure incomes each month off of a handful of electronic products they’ve developed. That’s every month. That’s a lot of text-link ad click-throughs.
Please don’t get me wrong, I don’t think we should sell just any old content. Nor do I suggest that we should stop producing free content to put on our blogs. Not at all.
But think about it. You’re taking the time to write useful content. What’s more, people are enjoying and gaining benefit from yoru content. Why not package it for them as themed pieces and offer it at a reasonable price? Seems logical, doesn’t it? Not only does it give you a chance to make a little cash off your writing, your ideas, your knowledge; but it also gives people who love your work a chance to support you. Everyone gains.
Yet there are many reasons you may want to consider creating an info product. Here’s five:
- You probably already have the content for an info product. If your blog content is niche focused, it’s likely you already have content to create an info product from. All you’d need to do is compile your posts, organize them and do some edits and you’ve got an ebook that you can sell.
- You’re going to be writing content for your blog anyhow. Maybe you have some content for an info product, may not. But your future blog posts (podcasts and vcasts too) can be crafted to be the content that makes up the core of an info product.
- People want what you know...and they want it the way you explain it. If you have people finding and reading your blog, and if you’re number of feed subscribers continues to increase, this one should be obvious. They’re all reading because they like and want what you’re writing.
- Your readers want to support you. Contrary to popular belief, people want to support you. Give them a way too. If you put up a ‘donate’ button, they may click it and make an offering – but how much. Instead, offer them more value by producing a product and they’ll support you even more by not only buying but possibly spreading the word as well.
- Info products can increase your readership. Create a product – whether free or for sale – and bloggers will likely write about it. If they have it, they may review it. If they enjoy your blog, they may promote your products. Either way, an info products gives people something of great substance to share with their readers.
There are other reasons, for certain. For instance, your info product will always pay you on time – something I know some ad services don’t do. Or that your info product offers very long-term passive income potential regardless of pageviews. Not to mention, the info product is yours and once it’s created you get all the revenue generated.
And if you’re wondering how to get an info product developed, published and distributed, I happened to have written about that for you already.
So what’s stopping you from using your blog to create an informational product?
(note: image from users_lib on Flickr, 
some rights reserved)
It makes you wonder what will happen to the Internet in 10-20 years. Unless there are serious filtering tools, there will be so much clutter it will be difficult to find what you want.
The real selling point here is that you should make your “informational product” easier to obtain and learn from.
If you write a blog full of long, detailed posts, try selling a collection of very brief audio clips highlighting some of your finer points. If you have a blog that you’ve written over the past several years, consider making a few flash cards (or even e-cards) and selling those.
The real value of information products created from blogs or website content is that they need to be the same information (and then some) in a different or unique format.
Thanks for the inspiration Dawud.
@Business Logos
I would agree. I think we’ll see new ways to aggregate content. I mean, search engines today are still pretty crude. We think Google is so advanced, but really, it’s the beginning of content indexing.
Tanner
Good to see you again!
YES! YES! and YES! That’s the point. Repurposing content and editing into a format that people want. That’s the key – finding out what people want first, then building it from your content. Should be pretty easy since most of potential ‘customers’ are also your readers.
I look forward to having enough content to repurpose in this way. I do have one static site that I could do this with, but I’m letting the site itself go, so I’m not sure how make this work. Any ideas?
Dawud, as a new coach, I am learning a great deal from your blog. Thank you for the great value you provide.
This is definitely the next step for me, once I have worked up a bit more content I’ll put stuff together in a report or eBook. Thanks for sharing Dawud.
Mary
My pleasure. Happy to help as I can. Just remember that to sell a product you only need to know what your audience/readers want – then give it to them.
Jorgen
I’ve found it helpful to purposefully write blog content, even, with a product in mind. That way I work out the content on my blog, get feedback and then can put the product together from both.
I do have one static site that I could do this with, but I’m letting the site itself go, so I’m not sure how make this work. Any ideas?
Awesome, this would be really amazing that if i have an e book of all the contents i admire your suggestion .
Iigtv
You can let the site go and still use its content.
medical
How would you use it in the field you’re in?
2000 articles sounds like an insane amount of work. And 100 websites? I think I’ve been reading too many internet marketing pitch pages, because the “gurus” make it sound so much easier to make money.
I was pondering after reading this post. Is it possible to make a collection of different posts of different topic? I guess you are just referring to a one website with consistent topic. Well anyway, it gives me an idea now.
Sam,
I don’t own a 100 websites. I own about 4. The rest were guest blog posts or articles I’ve published on other’s websites/blogs to get exposure.
And remember, 2000 articles over 5 years is not that much writing – especially when I was blogging on this site daily for a little over 2 years. That’s nearly 1000 articles right there.
I’m not an internet marketing guru either. I’m a business coach and web developer who teaches my clients, directly, one-on-one how to increase their business through their web presence. I don’t sell you a bunch of useless products promising millions. I work in the trenches directly with my clients – 8 at a time.
The web is about content, however you cut it. Produce content that people want to read, then respond to, and you’ll have a following. But that opens a whole different topic.
Thanks for your reply Dawud! It’s good to hear it straight from someone who’s been there. And yeah, the more I learn about creating a web presence, the more I’m starting to understand that content is really king.
I downloaded your “Client Producing Websites” eBook. Looking forward to reading it.
-Sam
It is only recently that I have discovered the power of article marketing, and I have to say that I am truely amazed at the spead that my articles are starting to show up around the web. At first I found it very difficult to get started and get ideas, now it seems to flow a litte easier, but I still cant write enough articles, and I don´t want to use article spinners, so instead I rely on the good content that I create,and I´m prepared to wait for the result
It is a good idea to package information and distribute it like that, but there is value in keeping is accessible. Blog posts aren’t really updated all that often so you don’t lose much by restricting access, but pages that are constantly moving and evolving need to stay accessible for search engines to generate relevant traffic.
thanks for your article.i feel very happy.i guess you are just referring to a one website with consistent topic.
Hey Dawud,
You make some good points there. I mainly focus on affiliate marketing, but I have been beginning to see recently how lucrative creating your own products can be. I think that will be one of the next projects I tackle. Currently, I don’t have a bunch of content that I can repackage, but I do have a few topics that I am fairly knowledgeable about and think I can write an informational product about.
Really great post, i’ve seen a lot of success with this method of marketing. Thanks Dawud!
Quality and fresh content is the number one source of attracting more clients. The power of excellent, information-rich face forward content is important to keep yourself above competitors.
The whole point of a target customer is to describe the person you most want to deal with and then to build your niche around that type of customer. Really, Great Post! Thanks for sharing this.
If you have informative content and lots of them, I think turning them into products is a good idea. It is convenient for the readers to read all your stuff.
this is a good advise for freelance writers like me. Thanks for sharing your ideas to help us succeed with our chosen field.
This is a great idea to make the most of all the content I have written over the years. A little bit of work is required to consolidate and edit the content appropriately for a different type of resource, but it should be worth it.
Q: So what’s stopping you from using your blog to create an informational product?
A. My biggest challenge is knowing what criteria to use for segmenting my new and existing content into free and for-fee packages.
Have you addressed this issue — and if so, what guidelines or criteria do you recommend?