6-Step Guide to Create Information Products (2019 Update)

Are you wondering what makes a GREAT information product?

Below, you’ll find a 6-step (updated) guide that will help you create info products that sell.

Here’s what we’ll be learning in this guide:

• How to create an info product
• How to launch an info (minimum viable) product
• How to promote and sell an info product
• What to pay attention to when launching a new product

We have a lot to cover, so let’s get started.

Step #1: Brainstorm Information Product Ideas

Many of you may be wondering what exactly an information product is.

On that note, let’s kick things off by giving a simple explanation on this.

Information product definition

An information product (or info product) is any digital product that conveys knowledge or specific information, in the context of educating the user around a certain topic.

Building an information product isn’t as easy as selling information online (and unfortunately, that’s what many people think it is).

Now that you know what an info product actually is, let’s look at what the first step of the process is all about.

The first step toward creating a truly successful info product is to brainstorm information product ideas.

These ideas don’t have to be complex or profound.

In fact, the simpler the idea, the higher the chances your info product will succeed.

You may be wondering: Where can I find such ideas?

Here are some of the best and quickest ways to get info product ideas:

1) Take a look at best selling information products

The real question here is: how to create an information product that sells?

You can achieve this by taking a look at what’s already out there—by taking a peek into best selling info products.

For example, let’s say you want to create an information product around sales.

What you can do is to visit already successful products, like Grant Cardone University:

Image Source: Cardone University

Top selling information products can be an excellent source of inspiration in the first stages of the process.

Visit as many as you can and note down things like:

• Value proposition
• Pricing model
• Messaging

You can easily find such products using Google search:

For example, if you want to get ideas for sales-related information products, you can search for something like:

This can be your starting point toward brainstorming and discovering great info product ideas.

2) Browse Udemy courses

Selling information online is NOT easy.

Luckily for you, others have done it already.

Udemy is a place where people go to learn new skills and acquire knowledge based on their interests.

Image Source: Udemy

To find ideas for your informational product, just enter some keywords into the search bar at the top of the page:

Image Source: Udemy

Click on the most relevant one and start breaking down the elements of their success.

Image Source: Udemy

Could that make a successful info product?

If yes, you can add it to your list.

3) Do research based on authorities in your niche

How to create an info product that sells?

Find authorities in your niche and see how they package their services.

To do so, you can visit websites like Clarity.fm or GrowthMentor.

Here’s what Clarity.fm looks like:

Image Source: Clarity

And here’s how GrowthMentor looks:

Image Source: GrowthMentor

The good thing about these platforms is that they can show you what skills are in demand right now.

For example, if you do some quick research, you’ll find out that everything that has to do with…

• Product growth
• Product-led growth
• Product marketing

… Is in high demand right now.

This could be an opportunity for your information product.

Create a list of information products

After you’ve browsed the internet for a while, you might want to write down your info product ideas.

A simple spreadsheet here will do the trick.

Just note down your ideas, as you’ll have to choose the type of the idea you’re going to build upon in the next step of the process.

Author’s Note: For best results, be sure to write 20-30 information product ideas in general.

Let’s move on to the next step.

Step #2: Choose the Type of Your Information Product

In this second step, you need to choose the type of your information product.

To do that, you need to know what the various types of information products are.

Let’s take a look at some of the most common ones.

Types of information products

Some of the most common information product types are:

• E-books
• Checklists
• Training platforms
• Courses
• Mini-degrees
• Worksheets
• White papers
• Webinars

A common misconception among many online entrepreneurs and business people is that you can call something a product only if it has a price tag on it.

However, that’s far from accurate.

An information product can also be something you offer for free for a particular purpose.

If you browse around StartBros, you’ll notice that we offer many information products for free for our audience.

For example, here’s a webinar we’re offering for free:

An Ebook on entrepreneurship:

Author’s Note: We also have a very cool blog post on the 6 types of entrepreneurs that you might want to check out.

Or an Amazon product research Workbook for ambitious Amazon FBA sellers:

We offer all of these resources, along with in depth Amazon articles for free.

Of course, we have paid products as well, such as our flagship training program: E-commerce Empire

By the time people buy our training program, they’ve extracted value from our website multiple times.

Most of the time, that’s what makes people take some kind of monetization action.

It all boils down to this: selling information products means you need to add some value to your prospects before you can ask them to pay for your product.

You simply can’t sell information products without adding value beforehand.

What Type of Information Product is Best For You

My advice is to go with the type that makes you feel most comfortable.

Do you feel GREAT in front of the camera? Then go for it.

Is writing content your thing? Then give it a try.

Are you the best at creating templates? Then don’t hesitate.

Do what makes you feel most comfortable and happy.

In the end, that’s what creating an information product is all about.

However, something you need to keep in mind is that people find it easier to consume and buy when you combine different types.

Thus, you may have a flagship product but still definitely need to build other products around it.

Let’s move on to the next step.

Step #3: Define the Basic Elements of Your Product

So far, you’ve chosen an idea for your info product from among the ones you discovered in the first step.

You’ve also chosen the type of informational product you’re going to create.

At this point, you need to define the basic elements of your info product.

What are these basic elements?

The framework you can use to define them is the popular Lean Canvas Framework, created by Ash Mauyra.

What is the Lean Canvas? According to creator Ash Maurya:

“Lean Canvas is a 1-page business plan template that helps you deconstruct your idea into its key assumptions using 9 basic building blocks.”

These blocks are:

1. Problem
2. Solution
3. Key Metrics
4. Unique Value Proposition
5. Unfair Advantage
6. Channels
7. Customer Segments
8. Revenue Streams
9. Cost Structure

Here’s how the template looks:

Image Source: Lean Stack

The good thing about this framework is that it helps you organize your thoughts around the information product you’re going to build.

By defining basic elements like the Cost Structure and the Channels you’re going to use to promote your product, you have a basic strategy in place.

Of course, many of these things are going to change as you move forward.

Nevertheless, defining them from the very beginning is a great way to know where you’re heading.

To get a better understanding on how to use the framework, let’s see what the Lean Canvas template would look like for my E-commerce Empire training program:

1) Problem

People want to be financially independent but can’t escape the 9-5

2) Solution

They can be financially independent by becoming eCommerce entrepreneurs

3) Key Metrics

Courses sold per quarter

4) Unique Value Proposition

Launch your first successful Amazon product & build a profitable E-commerce business in 48-Days

5) Unfair Advantage

Have launched a dozen successful eCommerce businesses myself

6) Channels

• Search traffic (organic)
• Affiliations
• Amazon micro-communities

7) Customer Segments

Want-to-be entrepreneurs

8) Revenue Streams

Training program

9) Cost Structure

Fixed price with money-back guarantee

Easy, right?

Be sure to use the template for your own information product.

Step #4: Validate Your Info Product Idea

Most people fail to sell info products because they skip this step.

In fact, most people don’t know that validation is a critical step toward creating successful digital products at all.

So what exactly is validation and why should you care about it?

Validation allows you to confirm whether an idea you have has a chance of succeeding.

It’s also one of the most critical steps when starting a new business.

You are using validation as a way to determine whether your information product will be of interest to your target audience.

Here’s an example of a validation question for an info product on Facebook:

Image Source: Facebook

With this simple question, the creator of the course is able to identify:

• If the course he is going to create is interesting
• The number of his potential early adopters
• The names and other details on his early adopters

It’s very important to do this for almost everything you create online, before making further investments and commitments toward them.

Here’s another validation question, again from the same marketer on Facebook:

Image Source: Facebook

As you can see here, the engagement is even bigger.

It also clearly shows that the creator can move forward in creating a case study for his client, since there are a lot of people interested in learning more about that case study.

I guess you get the point.

If you want to sell information online, or just want to launch a free info product, ask what people think about it first.

The feedback you’re going to get will help you refine your product before launching it.

Step #5: Create & Launch Your Information Product

Now that you know…

• The product you want to create
• What type of product it’s going to be
• The basic elements are of your product
• If there is an audience for your product and who that is

… You can start building your product.

Based on my experience in building and launching information based products, some of the things you need to pay attention to when creating and launching such a product are:

1) Make it actionable

The info product you’re going to create has to be actionable.

Make is as simple as possible, while also explaining every step in detail and adjusting your messaging so that it doesn’t include complex words and jargon.

For example, in my course, I go into detail and explain every step that people watching should take to launch a successful eCommerce business.

You need to do the same.

2) Provide real-life examples and case studies

Has what you are going to cover ever helped someone achieve great results?

Make sure to mention that in your informational product.

People LOVE case studies and successful examples of how others made what they are craving for.

In my course, I include cases of people who managed to quit their jobs after taking it.

There’s no better way to sell an information product.

3) Ask the opinion of already successful people in your industry

I have to be honest here: successful people are often hard to reach.

Even so, if you have the chance, you need to ask for feedback from authorities in your industry.

They’ve been where you are, so getting their opinion on things is a must.

Just send them a polite message, asking them to take a look at your info product before it goes public.

Trust me, it’s well worth it.

4) Remove hesitation by offering a Free Trial or Money-back Guarantee

When you sell information online, it’s easy to be misunderstood or misinterpreted.

Many people think that they’ll buy your course and get rich overnight.

However, this is not the case for most info products.

Moreover, many other people will hesitate to take the leap and buy your product.

A Free Trial or a Money-Back Guarantee here will help you in the beginning.

In my own informational product I offer both a Free Trial:

And a 90-Day Money-Back Guarantee:

It really works.

Be sure to use it.

5) Show your potential buyers what kind of support they’ll receive after buying the product

This is the last tip I have for you in this section.

Most successful information product companies offer great support to their customers, even after they’ve bought one of their products.

In fact, info products require constant support, since people who bought the product may need further explanation or even consultation for some of the topics you cover.

I’ve seen this happen time and time again.

Be very specific with the kind of support people should expect from you.

Step #6: Find Ways to Promote & Sell Your Information Product

You now have a great information product.

This is where things get difficult.

At this point, you need to get out of the building and start actually selling your product.

How can you do that when you’ve never done any marketing or sales before?

Luckily for you, there are other ways you can sell your info product.

Here are some of the best ways to promote it:

1) Paid advertising (i.e. social and search ads)

Paid advertising is one of the quickest ways to get your information product in front of your target audience.

Image Source: Facebook

There’s one problem with this method though: people have become extremely negative when it comes to advertising.

That doesn’t mean that you can’t use it to reach your audience, but just keep in mind that many advertisers see their number of clicks go down because of ad fatigue.

2) Affiliate marketing

Affiliate marketing is a great way to sell your course.

To put it simply, affiliate marketing allows other people or websites to promote your info product on a commission basis.

This means that they get paid not for the traffic they drive, but for the sales they drive.

One of the best places to start with affiliate marketing is Clickbank:

Image Source: Clickbank

Make sure to check it out.

3) Partnerships

Partnerships can also be a great way to promote your informational product.

The logic behind partnerships is easy: you find businesses who have similar target audiences with you and decide to help each other out.

To give you an example of how that works, let me explain how we at StartupBros handle partnerships.

We partner up with serious businesses that add value to the Amazon ecosystem and have similar audiences to ours.

Such a business could be a tool like JungleScout, which is essentially an all-in-one solution for Amazon sellers.

Image Source: JungleScout

Establishing partnerships will bring highly relevant traffic to your info product and will allow you to scale faster.

4) Direct sales

This one is self-explanatory.

Using direct sales to sell an info product has two main drawbacks:

1. It isn’t scalable
2. You need people to do it right

On the other hand, interacting with people while trying to sell to them allows you to identify their pain points and problems and adjust your messaging around them.

Sales can be hard, but if done correctly they can drive initial growth for your new product.

5) Social selling

Next, you can use social selling as a way to attract people who will buy your info product.

Social selling is the action of adding value to your prospect’s lives and giving answers to their questions where they live online.

For example, if we wanted to promote our Amazon course, we would start by answering some questions on Quora:

To get the most out of this strategy, you need to find where you potential customers live online and try to answer any questions they have regarding the topic you cover with your info product.

Slowly but steadily, you’ll establish yourself as an authority and drive traffic to your informational product via several channels.

Author’s Note: Try to find all the communities where your potential customers live online and use them to give valuable answers whenever you think is relevant.

6) Build a community around your product

Building a community is one of the best things you can do to generate awareness about your product.

It’s also one of the best ways to keep people who have already purchased one of your products engaged, so that you can up-sell them in the future.

Some tools you can use here include:

• Facebook groups
• Slack channels
• Meetups
• Events

Rest assured that this tactic, combined with the previous one, is the best combination you can try to grow your information product business.

Let’s move on to the last section of this guide.

Now Over to You

Creating information products is easier than it used to be.

People today have all the means they need to create GREAT products at scale.

On the other hand, selling info products is NOT as easy as it used to be.

Why?

Simply because nowadays, there are just too many of them.

However, this doesn’t mean that you can’t create a successful info product business yourself.

After all, you now have all the necessary tools to do so.

Now I’d like to hear from you:

Which of these steps do you find to be more difficult? Is it defining the basic elements of your info product, or maybe selling your product?

Let me know by leaving a comment below!

Additional resources you might be interested in:

• 8 Things to Consider Before Dropping Out of College
• How to Stop Being Lazy
• The Overthinker’s Guide to Taking Action