If you look at the web and try to determine who is making money in the internet marketing game you will find that the money is being made by infopreneurs: those who sell information products. Every type of information imaginable is being sold and tons of people are cashing in on this craze in one form or another.

If you are new to the idea of starting your own online business, this issue is for you. Even if you are a seasoned expert, I still think there are some original tricks and techniques you may not have known about or thought of before.

WHY DOES INFORMATION SELL?

People are shocked when they ask my wife and I what we do and what we sell on the internet. I can think of the dialogue now:

Jack: So what do you guys do in your business? Marc & Terry: We sell information on the internet. Jack: What do you mean information? Isn't that free?

Marc & Terry: Some of it. However, a lot of it is highly specialized information that only a select group of people are interested in. Furthermore, many people do not even know that such information is available online and those who do know, are unaware of how to go about accessing it easily. Jack: But how can you make money doing that? Marc & Terry: We can because people want this information and in order to obtain it, many will pay for it. Jack: I don't understand.

You know what, most people do not understand the business of selling information. A lot of people who are already reselling various information products for others do not even understand what it is they are selling or how they manage to make sales.

If a market is interested in something, they will want information on it and they will want it immediately (if not sooner). Those who can tap into the information wants of a market and can provide them instant (or very quick) access to that information are on their way to a successful career as an infopreneur.

Why do so many people subscribe to our newsletter? Because of the targeted information with which it provides them. Many want to know about Direct Marketing and in particular Internet Marketing and we are providing them with that information for free. Why FREE? Because of the intense competition that exists online for marketing information.

The point I want you to get from the last paragraph is that when strong competition exists that is offering similar information for free, it would be suicidal to try to charge for that information.

So what you need to do is find information that a targeted market desires, and produce it in a format that they can obtain easily and instantaneously, and you have a formula for your first or next information product.

Please note that we are not saying to stop reselling other people's products or to stop participating in affiliate programs. On the contrary, these can create very nice income streams by themselves and some can be simple turnkey businesses that can bring in lots of money. I am simply describing the possibilities that exist for creating and marketing your own info products which can also be very lucrative.

Here is what I suggest you do to begin your process:

1. Research a market and find out what they want to buy:

Ideally, this is a market that you have an intimate knowledge of, either through your participation (i.e. being an expert in a field or having an intense passion for that field) or through learning as much as you can about a field that interests you. The key here is that you must at least have an interest or else the product will sit on the shelf forever.

Take stock of your own interests and what you want to learn about in general or in this field in particular and come up with at least 10 ideas that you have for an info product.

Get a few people in your area of interest and find out at least five things that they would like to know more about.

Now, that you have your list of 15 possible topics, you should find a way to survey your target market. Obviously, you are not going to reach everyone. It is important, however, that you do reach a fraction of that audience. This is what market researchers call a "focus group".

Find a way to reach your focus group. You can participate in forums or newsgroups. Do not just go on and announce your survey. Create your survey, post it on a web site and then hang around these places for a while. After you have established a reputation for yourself, ask the participants to fill out your survey and offer them something free in return for their help.

Your survey should concentrate on the 15 or so products that you are considering creating. The product that receives the best response (i.e. people indicate that they are interested in such a product and would purchase it) is the product that you should concentrate on creating.

You can create unlimited amounts of surveys using The Ultimate Marketers Resource Survey Creator available only to members of The Ultimate Marketers Resource. Find out how to join by visiting the link in the resource box below this article.

Another great way to find out what people in your target market want to buy is to go to Google Groups (a search engine for newsgroups) and search for WTB, this acronym stands for "want to buy". This is people telling you exactly what they are looking for and that they will pay for it. How much easier than this can it get?

2. Now that you have found out what your target market wants, you must develop it and offer it to them:

Product development is probably the most daunting task that a new marketer can undertake. Many people hate to write and most people believe that developing an information product requires writing, therefore, they are quickly swayed from the idea.

Well, this is not necessarily so, especially on the internet, which affords us a variety of ways to deliver information.

Here are three ways to create information products and here are some of the internet tools that you could use to create your first (or next) one.

A. Audio: Many people do not even consider this as an option but some of the great information creators in the direct response industry, both on and off the internet, have used audio to create fantastic information products. This also adds to the perceived value of such products.

Perceived value is how much people think your product is worth based on the contents of the product. Statistics show that if a product contains audiotapes and videotapes it can sell for a much higher price than a manual because people perceive that it is more valuable. Whether this is true or not is really a moot point, the fact remains that people will pay a higher price for such products.

In the past, people have sat themselves down with a recorder and a microphone and they have recorded their ideas onto tapes and then sold them as the information product. This is still a fantastic way to develop products, however, on the internet, you could utilize tools available to you online to create downloadable audio files that your customers could access instantly.

There is a tool known as Real Audio which I believe has not been exploited by the infopreneurs yet. You could actually use this tool available from Real.com and offer your audio information immediately so that when customers buy your product, they can instantly access it. This is key, and the future of product development and delivery on the web will be centered around digital fulfillment of information products.

When your customers can "hear" the information that they seek in minutes instead of days or weeks, this will cause a serious sales explosion for you. B. Video: Another tool that has been used to avoid writing and assist in creating greater perceived value is video. For many years, great product developers have used video to demonstrate "How To" information and to offer more visual and audio cues to their customers.

Translated to the web, you can also use Real Video or Windows Media Player to transfer your video content to the net.

The concept remains the same, you find a want, you create the product and then you offer instantaneous access over the web. Your target market will eat this up.

I suggest using Real Audio and Real Video because you can create streaming presentations. What streaming means is the files (whether audio or video) begin to play before they have actually been downloaded to your customers computers. You should check with your webhost to see if they offer the ability to host REAL products from your web site. If they do not, I suggest that you find a host that does.

C. Screen and Video Capture Software: The next really slick alternative you can use to create information products is a piece of software called Camtasia.

This software lets you "record" the actions you take on your computer. You can also add voiceovers so when people view your presentation, they can hear you speak as if you were right there. The possible uses for this software are numerous. Here are a couple of ideas off the top of my head:

I. Do you know how to configure software such as MS Access so that people can use it to create fully functional databases that do exactly what they want? You can record a presentation using Camtasia and walk people through the process and also include your voiceover telling them exactly what they are watching.

II. Show people how to set up CGI scripts for a web server.

III. Show people how to create HTML documents.

IV. Demonstrate tricks, tips and hints of internet marketing through this software.

I think the uses are only limited by your imagination.

The next piece of software that can help you create info products is Adobe Acrobat. This software is fast becoming the information developers tool of choice. And this is why:

1. Acrobat is famous for it's cross platform abilities. What this means is that anyone using any type of computer (UNIX, Windows or Macintosh) can read your .pdf files without needing any special software other than the FREE acrobat reader available from Adobe.com. 2. The newest version of Acrobat allows you to do many cool things:

Drag and Drop your files onto the program. Have you written something in MS Word or a text editor? You do not have to rewrite it, simply drop the file onto Acrobats software and boom, instant .pdf file. Password protect your documents. Include video.

There are so many features, this program is extremely versatile.

One more thing, Adobe's Reader is free, however, the software that you can use to create Acrobat files is not. Look for the bargains on software that are available on the internet.

The world of information product creation is growing more every day. You would be shocked and surprised to know what people will pay for. They will pay to learn and to better themselves. They will pay to save themselves time and headaches. They will pay for your knowledge and expertise. I suggest you think long and hard about what you know best and put it to use in the form of an information product that people want and will pay for and then create some more and some more after that. You will love the results.