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Getting Started in Information Marketing Business

Natalie Judd

November 17, 2006

Sometimes getting started is the toughest part of the business and information marketing is no exception. However if you know how to get started you will be step ahead of the pack. Here are a few things you need to know to jump start your information marketing:

Develop your niche. There are several ways to think discover your niche by looking internally and externally. You can look at the careers you have held, passions, hobbies. You should ask yourself ‘what value can I bring to this market niche?’ Some external places where you can get ideas might be magazines, trade organizations, public domain materials, look at what other people in your area are doing and what products they are advertising just to name a few. By looking at both internal and external sources you can discover your niche and in so doing, begin the genesis of your first information products.

Start off small. While it is important to think about the whole process and to know how you will service customers on the back-end, you don’t need to become the next amazon.com overnight. Set realistic goals and grow from there it will keep you sane and allow you to better manage the business.

Don’t limit what you think will sell online. While there may not be any virgin markets left, there is virtually nothing off limits. Any niche can work if you committed in what you are doing and investing in the business with your time and energy.

Evaluate the market place – Ask yourself key questions about the market - does this market have money? Will they spend money? Are they reachable online/offline? How hungry are they for new information? Who else is out in this marketing area? What other products are out there? You should also spy on your eventual competition – get on their mailing lists, read their products, and evaluate their marketing materials and keywords. Don’t be afraid of competitors – If there is already someone in your market niche, that is an indication that there is an audience for the information.

Come up with a hook – very important. Because you will be entering into a market with lots of competitors it is really important that you develop a big idea to stand out so that you are not perceived as just another “me too” product. Even if you are another “me too” product you need to figure out how to present it in a novel way.

One of the keys to developing this hook is to actually give people the fish. You might have heard the saying “if you teach them to fish you feed them for a lifetime, if you give them a fish you feed them for a day.” That’s not always true with information marketing. People are looking for quick, pre-digested fish.

So give them the fish and then keep asking yourself how else you can serve more fish to diversify your product line. Sales copy – write a sales letter. As part of developing your hook, it is very important for you to write your sales copy. To do this look at the sales copy of your competitors and ask yourself, ‘how am I different?’ The answers to this question and the highlights of your product will form the basis for your sales copy and the bullets you need to highlight.

Once you have done all of these steps, the rest becomes a game of numbers. You need to generate the right kind and the right quantity of traffic to continue to keep your sales funnel full. Then you start the process all over again with each new product you develop and introduce.

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