How to Make Money with Information Products

So, you want to make money with information products?  Of course you do!  If you read about information products from the internet marketing gurus who are aching to lure you in, turning your knowledge into information products will give you:

• passive income
• a lifestyle business
• the possibility of being location independent (living anywhere or traveling for long stretches)
• even fame and fortune if you are really lucky

While all that could be true, there is a lot they aren’t telling you, of course.

Listen, information products are great.  Creating two complete lines of information products serving two distinct target markets has provided me with an incredible amount of freedom.  And, I literally went broke getting there because I bought into the promises of ease and speed, and didn’t understand enough about what it would really take.

Here’s what I didn’t understand:

• Building an information product is only one step in building a business that will provide ongoing “passive” revenue.
• The revenue will never truly be passive until you are fully cashed out of the business.  Until then, you will be working it one way or another.
• An information product needs a full business model, systems and strategies built around it to make it valuable.
• Fame is fun for the ego but doesn’t really do much for you beyond that unless it’s a match for your business model.

What I know now:

• An information products business can provide a huge amount of freedom and flexibility IF you can build a strong team and systems around your programs and products.
• A single information product alone is almost more of a pain in the ass than it’s worth.  It must have a back end business model — that’s where all the profit is.
• Strategy and foundation are the keys to building a real business around an information product — the making of the product itself is the easiest part (now that I know the shortcuts to creating kick ass products without investing tons of money upfront).

My dear friend Michael Ellsberg has been writing vitriolic posts on Facebook sharing his anger at the internet marketing community selling the get rich promise.  I understand his anger.   I fell for the pitch hook, line and sinker.

But you know what? I’m glad I did.

Diving deep into the underworld of internet marketing and get rich quick promises was something I had to do in order to better understand my gifts, my value and what I absolutely do not want in my life.  I am quite sure I could have not gotten there had I not gone through there.

If you are there now and know there is something more, you are right.  Don’t worry, you can learn what you need and leave the rest.  You can apply what you are learning to make a massive difference in the world.  You do not have to get sucked in and stuck by the ego-feeding promises.

As they say in the world of recovery (and in many ways, the pursuit of making money can be an addiction), you can “take what you want and leave the rest.”

I’m curious.  What have you taken and applied from the world of internet marketing that is good, true and beautiful? What are you applying in your own life and business to make a huge positive impact in the world? Share in the comments.