Breaking Free
How to Quit Your Job and Start Your Own Business
How To Create Passive Income With Info Products
In: Business Ideas By: Brian Armstrong
13 May 2009There are a lot of people doing work in information products lately and making money with them. I’ve experimented with it quite a bit in the past and haven’t found it to be a great fit for me personally.
Part of the problem is that it is mostly done by people in the “internet marketing” community whom I don’t much like. I feel like you can learn something valuable from all people and it’s worth understanding the fundamentals of good marketing, but 90% of the stuff out there from that community is junk. It’s “non-experts” pretending to be experts and comes from a mentality of “I want to make a quick buck” and not “how can I create something really useful”. Ironically, the later tends to earn you much more money in the long run.
Eben Pagan, however, is one of the folks in the 10% whose stuff I regularly read/listen to. He manages to keep it classy, his advice is often applicable to business in general (not just info products), and he’s the real deal having built a $20 million dollar annual business.
This video of his is definitely worth checking out (you’ve gotta opt in to get the second part but it’s worth it).
Click above to watch it and opt in to get the second part.
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Breaking Free is a blog for people who'd like to quit their 9-to-5, start their own business, and achieve financial freedom. It's written by web-entrepreneur Brian Armstrong. You can read more here »
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Samuel
May 13th, 2009 at 12:17 pm
Yes, Eben’s stuff is definitely better than most of the tripe out there!
Back in his David Deangelo days he did have a tendency to milk his products (has about ten different products with much the same content) but you can still tell more research and effort has been put into his products and marketing strategy.
I won’t be releasing an info product that is anything short of something I am super proud of, just like every post on my blog. :)
Take it easy,
Sam
Brian Armstrong
May 13th, 2009 at 8:29 pm
Agreed Sam, let us know when it comes out!
Chris
May 13th, 2009 at 2:13 pm
I’ve also learned a tremendous amount from him. He’s got some awesome products that have helped me a lot. One is the GetAltitude.com program (for maximum personal productivity), & the other is GetIgnition.com (overview course for starting an online business).
Brian Armstrong
May 13th, 2009 at 8:30 pm
Thanks Chris, I actually never saw the second one (Ignition). Was it the similar content?
Simona Rich @Personal Development Coach
May 13th, 2009 at 6:12 pm
I’ve never heard of Eben Pagan, but I will check him out. I think you firstly need to build your visitors trust and good mailing list so that you would be able to regularly sell info products.
I am at the stage of building my readerbase, and I am earning money from advertising, but when I have around 400 visitors per day, I will promote more affiliate products (now I’m promoting only one) and I am also planning to sell my own book on Amazon as well as on my website.
Now I am getting steady 180+ visitors per day, but I still feel it is not enough for successful info products selling.
Brian Armstrong
May 13th, 2009 at 8:31 pm
Yeah, valid point. You really need a big “permission asset” to make those things work. I guess that’s what we’re all workin on in some ways. Thanks Simona :)
Chiko777
May 17th, 2009 at 6:14 pm
I’ve thought about creating some passive income through educational material sold on my blog, but have not really decided to go forth with it. I am not exactly sure what I would like to market yet…my ability to put words into music (positive), my knowledge about penny stocks, my desire to be retired from corporate America by 25, or more.
Any ideas?
Brian Armstrong
May 17th, 2009 at 9:28 pm
Hi Chiko, yep it’s not an easy question. Gotta go with something you are both passionate and an expert at in some sense (for credibility).
Looks like you are exploring some good topics on your blog! Keep it up. Even if you aren’t 100% sure, it doesn’t hurt to get something out there and find out. It’s all a learning experience!
Chiko777
May 17th, 2009 at 10:49 pm
Thanks Brian! I will be looking to put somethings together once my blog gets above 100 subscribers.
Aaron
June 4th, 2009 at 2:38 am
Thanks for the link, I wasn’t familiar with Eben before, but finally got around to watching the video(I’ve had it starred in Google reader for weeks) and got a lot more out of it than I was expecting.
I liked his 3 question “checklist” for whether it’s a good niche – breaking free obviously is. It’s funny to watch him teach you the tactics and use them at the same time though.
How early on in your blogging career did you write your book? Have you offered any other products or are you considering them?
I’m trying to decide if it’s more effective to pursue small businesses (universitytutor, buyersvote, etc) or to offer products. Maybe it’s a combination of both. What are your thoughts/criteria for how you choose your ventures?
Thanks!
- Aaron
I also have some questions regarding some of your wordpress plugins, etc if you don’t mind answering them let me know.
Brian Armstrong
June 5th, 2009 at 12:36 am
Hey Aaron,
I think both can work (products vs. websites, others too I like include real estate and blogging).
For me it was a personal decision, I’m a programmer, I tend to get more excited about websites but info products can be great as well. I think info products work better if you can demonstrate some expertise on a subject and already have a following, cuz you’ll have to market it somehow.
Ask away on wordpress plugins.
Aaron
June 5th, 2009 at 2:36 am
Thanks for being willing to help with word press. I’m a web developer as well, so I’m open to coding some of the word press stuff, but wanted to find out which top contributors /plug-in you use. I’ve found a few of them, but wasn’t sure which is best. Also, what contact form and email subscription service do you recommend? I’m just getting my blog started, and wanted to get a few of those things setup.
Did you design/code your theme, or get it from someone else?
Another question about the top contributors plug-in, any idea why sometimes it shows the links as invalid? My link is doing that right now. I think I typed it in each time I posted, but maybe not…
Thanks for your help.
-Aaron