Is This Such A Thing As An Info Product in a Day?

by Judy Murdoch

Business Skills Articles

Published on this site: November 9th, 2010 - See more articles from this month

Introduction: Saga of the Sea Monkeys

When I was about 10-years old, I really wanted a cat. My mom, however, was opposed to this idea. In her opinion cats (and dogs) were bringers of dirt and chaos into a home she tried so hard to keep clean and orderly.

The exception to my mom's rule were things like goldfish and turtles because they were small and were not going to wander through the house, get into the garbage, or scratch the furniture.

But, let's face it, goldfish and turtles are boring and the ones I bought at the dime store had an unfortunate tendency to die within the week.

So I was delighted when I saw an ad for Sea Monkeys on the back of comic book.

Maybe you remember Sea Monkeys from your own childhood. Maybe you don't have a clue what I'm talking about.

Sea Monkeys were introduced in the 1960's by Harold Von Braunhut (who also marketed X-Ray Specs). The ads were brilliant: a well-known comic illustrator portrayed sea monkeys as cute, human-looking sea creatures. One illustration showed a Sea Monkey family with a mom, dad, and two kids. The mom even had a bow in her hair.

For a ten-year old who wanting a cool pet, Sea Monkeys seemed like the perfect solution. Sea Monkeys could be kept in a fish tank so they wouldn't disrupt the household AND according the ad, you could train Sea Monkeys to do cool tricks.

So I put two-dollars in an envelope and anxiously awaited the arrival of my awesome new friends.

When the package arrived, I immediately got to work setting up the little Sea Monkey habitat and opened the packet of Sea Monkey "eggs."

Then I waited for my Sea Monkeys to hatch so I could play with my Sea Monkey family.

After waiting the prescribed time I check the Sea Monkey habitat, but I couldn't see anything. I re-read the instructions which told me Sea Monkeys are actually quite small and putting the habitat near a good light source would make them easier to see.

And there they were, my Sea Monkeys, tiny, nearly transparent, and insect-like. I didn't get a rockin' family to play with. I got plankton.

Now I'm not bashing Sea Monkeys which are currently marketed by Transcience Corp. Most kids, including me, knew at some level that those comic book ads sounded a little "too good to be true."

Which brings me to the subject of this article.

"Instant Product" - Really!?

There are lots of books and programs promising you that you can "create a product in a day."

If you are a busy, busy business owner, this sounds fantastic. Imagine, you don't need to buy fancy software or special equipment. You can create a product that you can sell to customers in the time it takes to, say, get your car washed, go to the post office, get through your email, and fix dinner. How totally cool would that be?

The Reality: Kind of

I work a lot with small business owners who want to create information products. Specifically information products that customers will love because those products are relevant, easy to use, and get results.

Is it really possible to create a substantive, useful information product in a few hours?

The answer is, yes, but it's important to keep in mind that a product you create in a few hours is likely the result of months even years of training and experience.

True Story: How I Created a Product in a Day!

For example, a couple weeks ago a client was having trouble writing a sales page for a new service she was offering.

She just couldn't figure out what information should go in what part of her offer. Did she need to include some sort of marketing copy? Where should details like class time and dates go? Should she include a money-back guarantee, etc.

It seemed to me that a "map" of a sales page might help. So I created a screen shot of a sales page I had worked on and added labels and call outs which explained each section of the offer.

It took a few hours to put the sales page map together and then it was ready to go.

BUT ...

The reason I was able to put together the sales page map so quickly is because I've been creating sales pages for years and teaching business owners how to do sales pages for years.

Over time I've developed a perspective around what works and what doesn't work.

All of this time, experience, and care went into the product I created.

If I had created a product but

• didn't know what I was talking about or
  
  
• just parroted information I'd learned from a book or a course without adding my own perspective and voice
  
  
• did the equivalent of a "data dump" in which I simply wrote down what I knew as a disorganized, jargon-filled mish mosh.
  

I might have a product but it wouldn't be a product that my customers would see as valuable. And if they don't get value chances are pretty good that:

• They won't be coming back to buy more from me
  
  
• They aren't going to tell their friends and colleagues to buy from me
  
  
• They may even have some not-so-nice things to say about me which they will share with their hundreds perhaps thousands of friends on Facebook and Twitter

Bottom Line

You probably can create a quality information product in an hour but the "one hour" is misleading because:

• the product is based on years of experience in the field; knowing what works and what doesn't, personal analysis and thought, and learning
  
  
• the product is also likely the result of collaboration - from beta testers, from peer input, and from ??
  
  
• the product is going to be tweaked and refined before it's in a space to really stand on it's own and make money

Otherwise, your one hour product is probably info crap and you can expect people to pay what they usually pay for crap...nuthin'.

Judy Murdoch helps small business owners create low-cost, effective marketing campaigns using word-of-mouth referrals, guerrilla marketing activities, and selected strategic alliances. To download a free copy of the workbook, "Where Does it Hurt? Marketing Solutions to the problems that Drive Your Customers Crazy!" go to http://www.judymurdoch.com/workbook.htm. You can contact Judy at 303-475-2015 or [email protected].