Five Simple Steps to Creating Your First Information Product

Useful, educational information is highly prized when delivered by experts such as yourselves. And yes, whether you think it or not, you are an expert.

Why not then capitalize on combining some of your knowledge with the treasure trove of tools out there to create simple information products?

As digital downloads, these info products add great value to your website in creating relationships and positioning your practice or business as an educational resource. 

As CDs, they can be sold, given away as freebies, used as marketing tools, handed out at lectures or presentations, used as bonus gifts, or used as stocking stuffers!

And there is nothing like that passive stream of income showing up in your Inbox!

I am often asked how I created my information products  so I decided to let you in on some amazingly simple secrets.

All you need is:

• A “teachable” idea that you can turn into an outline
• A computer
• A telephone, or a USB microphone (one that plugs directly into your computer)
• A audio editing program (free = Audacity, or paid = Sony Sound Forge) 
  
• An account with AudioAcrobat which costs $19.95 a month, and you get a free trial month.
• An account with Kunaki, which allows you to create your own CDs (or DVDs for the more ambitious!) in jewel cases or DVD cases for $1 apiece!
• A handy teenager nerd from the household or neighborhood if you are feeling intimidated.

These then are the steps to creating your first AUDIO product.

Step 1: 

Create an outline for an information product (a “How-to” or a “Seven Secrets to” or a “Top Ten” or a “Five Big Mistakes” list, for example). Use that outline to flesh out a script that you can read comfortably. Practice reading it out aloud so that it sounds conversational.

Since a typical CD can only accommodate 65-70 minutes of audio, make sure you are not exceeding that length. Otherwise, break it into 2 or more CDs. And be sure to offer at least 40 minutes of content so as to not disappoint.

Spend a moment thinking about a catchy title – stay away from the dry and boring! Use this Headline Analyzer tool to test how well your title scores.

Step 2:

Create your audio by phoning in to AudioAcrobat (they have great weekly tutorials instructing you on how to do this)

Or
Record your audio using your USB microphone (this is mine) and your audio editing program.

It’s preferable to create a large amount of content in 4-5 minute tracks. This you can accomplish with editing or simply recording separate audio files.

Edit out the um’s and er’s and mistakes with your audio –editing program.

Download your audio file to your computer from AudioAcrobat or save it from your audio editing program.

You have most likely saved an MP3 file. If you want your CD to be played in all CD players as well as on a computer, you will need to convert the MP3 files to another format. Here is a good article that explains this.

Step 3

Select the images you want to use to illustrate the CD itself and the jewel case or DVD case insert. I suggest you get these royalty-free from www.istockphoto.com. A higher quality image for printing on paper costs a couple of dollars.

Use your imagination here, and don’t be too self-critical! It doesn’t have to be perfect.

Step 4

Go to Kunaki.com and upload your audio file(s), along with your graphics. The company website is pretty basic, but not difficult to use. It’s all self-explanatory.

Type in the text you want showing on the CD and case, by following instructions.

Here is their detailed Q and A page .

Step 5

Order your free first copy from Kunaki, and revel in the excitement of holding your first info product in your sweaty paws. It’s gets easier every time.

Execute your giving away/promotional/selling strategy right away!

If you get into this and plan to create many info products, here is an excellent “how-to-produce-audio-CDs” teaching program that provides in depth videos, instruction and even royalty-free music clips.