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Okay, so Friday I promised a short series on how to select the type of information products … or more correctly the format. On Monday I was bad and posted a video from Will Smith that I thought you might find interesting. My bad! Me Busy! Me Lazy! But I really did think it was interesting. And given its subject that’s saying something.
So what’s the point of this — besides a backhanded apology.
The point is that that blog entry was as much an information product as the book I spent 2 weeks working on (24 hours writing, the rest publishing). It just cost a LOT less to get out.
So how do you decide what form your information product should take? I mean besides “I need this in fifteen minutes and I have no clue what to write. I guess I better rip something off YouTube!”.
Now before I start lets get something straight. The boundaries. Information products is really a large group of products formats. “How to”s, which we call Learning Content, alone can take seven (or more) physical formats. And Learning Content is only one type of information product. Software is also an information product. Web services (e.g. article posting tools, web design tools) are also information products. So are databases.
However, software, services, and databases are – for most of us – beyond our skills and capability. Most of us produce information products in the form of learning content.
So I’m going to restrict this conversation to traditional learning content (LearningCreators.com, and LearningCreators.ca remember?) and exclude software, services and other types of stuff.
There are 6 questions you need to answer when deciding what form your information product needs to take:
- What forms am I capable of doing?
- What forms am I most comfortable with?
- How much will this content cost (in time or money)?
- Can I create multiple forms from one?
- How important is this to my reputation?
- How much will customers pay for (value) this form
Those questions basically bring out three characteristics of each of the formats:
- The cost of the format (Questions 1 through 4).
- The reputation value
- The dollar value
Over the next few posts in this series we’ll address these questions and characteristics.
In the next post we’ll look at the various formats of information product that are possible.
Interesting, did you plan to continue this article?
BernieR
Sure do … and expected to post the next in the series today but haven’t managed to get to it yet. I normally post on Monday, Wednesday, & Friday. Unless of course I end up with too much on my plate & run behind (which is the situation this week).
Glen
Looking forward to the rest of the article… But on your mention of
Looks like the blockquote tag didn’t work & missed out part of my comment…
But on your mention of…. 4.Can I create multiple forms from one?
I’m not sure if I’m answering the right question or not. I sent you a private email to clarify. However, I’m going to go ahead and answer in anticipation of being right.
I’m presuming the question is “Can I use one format to create multiple formats?”.
The answer is yes! Very definitely. I refer to this usually as repurposing. For example, I could create a live 2 hour seminar and then video record it. From that one live seminar (which is one product), I can then take the video, edit it, add slides, add titles and closing titles, add music etc. and get a professional video product. This product could then be sold as a new product. The raw video could then be converted to an audio only file. Again it would have to be edited, music and audio titles added and copied to a CD (or MP3 or both). You would then have another saleable product as a CD. Or in the case of an MP3 you would have a bonus or free product. Finally, you could have the finished DVD transcribed. This could then form the basis for a rewrite into a written article.
Notice however, that at each stage a rewrite occurs (in video/audio terms called a post-production with an emphasis on editing). Effectively you are saving the cost of pre-production – designing the product and a large part of the production costs.
Be warned however, that you may need to review the design of the product. A workshop for example, would not easily fit into a video or audio format. (A workshop is defined as practical and involving the audience more than the presenter).
Does that help?
Glen
Great Post, there is so much information. I even enjoy reading your reply comments, which can be a post in itself. I have been looking for a way to put together an info product in an e-book. However videos seem to be the big thing now, but it seems a little technical for me. I would definitely need some tutorials to put together something like that. Thanks for the post.
larryj
Hopefully, by the time I finish this post I’ll have given you enough information to answer the question yourself. Videos can be quite simple to do. And if you do them well, you can actually charge more for a video set than an eBook. Check out my free video on how to write how to book s. If you prefer to learn by reading then I have a much more detailed package in my book “How to Write Your Own How To Book in 24 hrs or Less” including a step by step schedule. We also have a coaching program on creating learning content. eBooks are covered but so are Videos, Seminars, and Webinars.
Check out this video … Dawn of the Rising Sun. It was done by my 15 year old son using only the barest of tools. I’d suggest checking out mine but mine isn’t nearly as good as his.
Thanks for the tips.
Ron
You’re welcome.
This is such an exciting time to be involved in blogging and information sharing. There are more and more services being developed. I gave a student an assignment for digital design to make some videos and put them on YouTube. I told her that I could get the screen shots and print them for proof to the auditors that she fulfilled the requirements for the grade and the class.
I was very happy with the results and her creativity. My favorite one was drawings she made of her dogs and her friends dogs, and she made them cartoon looking, had them singing to a song and put it all together with the sound. It is only a few minutes long but there is so much in there it is incredible.
She had other ones of her dogs that were cute, but the animated cartoon was by far the best.
Teens are highly creative with videos. It is nice to have a way for them to show off their talent.
This is giving a nother twist to something I hadn’t thought of and thanks for the tip.
great ideas, but how about just not blog for the day you have nothing to say…
quality over quantity!
One of the keys to blogging successfully is being consistent. As a blogger you want people visiting on a regular basis. When they come back they need to have new content. So like a magazine or newspaper, you need to have a regular posting schedule and keep to that schedule. Unfortunately, I started out posting 3 times a week which is quite frequent. I’m also in the middle of creating a new home study course. So as a result I’m not posting at the moment. I will be restarting as soon as the first course is mostly done.
Very interesting… as always! Cheers from Switzerland.