Ready to turn your knowledge into profit? Selling information products might sound complex, but it’s a game-changer when done right.
In this post, I’ll explain the essentials of creating and selling information products. I’ll also walk you through my personal strategies that have helped me sell thousands of my own information products for more than over a decade.
What is an information product?
Information product ideas are products you sell that convey knowledge or information (e.g., e-books and online courses). They are:
- Low cost: Doesn’t cost you a lot of money to make
- High earning potential: Makes you a LOT of money
The best part is that you can create products relatively quickly (depending on which information product ideas you choose), and those products can then generate passive income.
Not all information product ideas are equal, though. What works for one business might not work very well for you. That’s why it’s important to develop a good game plan for your situation before jumping head-first into the first idea you have.
Example and breakdown of an information product
Any product that conveys knowledge or information for educational purposes is an information product.
Chances are you’ve purchased an information product already and used them in your everyday life. Several information products do well and have helped thousands of people. The trick is to provide real-life value to someone’s life. Here are some general examples of information products:
- A paid course on how to talk to women
- A course about mental mastery, where you learn how to take charge of yourself and achieve more than you could ever imagine.
- An e-book on how to manage your finances and change your life
- A YouTube video on how to make a molten lava cake for dessert
Not all information products are digital, either. They can be DVDs, CDs, or traditional books. Other services can further leverage these information products. For example, a free coaching session in exchange for recording can be used in future information products.
However, when you create a digital information product (i.e., one that doesn’t require the overhead of a physical product), you can start to see huge growth potential.
4 information product ideas you can start today
We’re going to pretend we’re running a new business. It’s a fitness website called Muscle Up that caters to twenty-something content marketers who are looking to build muscle.
Yeah, it’s a crappy name — but we’re playing pretend, remember?
As the founder of Muscle Up, you’ve built a solid list of subscribers and have been churning out helpful blog posts for a while. So now you think it’s the perfect time to sell your first information product.
Let’s look at a few perfect options for you as the founder of Muscle Up and a beginner entrepreneur who wants to create their first information product.
I’ll give you the price you can sell one unit for and the time it takes to produce each product.
Information product idea #1: Books / E-Books
- Price: $10 – $50 per book
- Time to make: 2 – 8 weeks
E-books are things you keep downloading but never get around to reading. Luckily, plenty of other people will pay you money to gain your valuable muscle-building knowledge.
They’re deceptively simple to make, too. Since you’ve been frequently blogging and providing valuable content to your readers already on Muscle Up’s website, you can use those same blog posts and compile them into one awesome resource for your readers.
The best part? Once you write it, it will generate a stream of income — much like the other information product ideas on this list.
Here are a few great examples:
- “How to Travel the World on $50 a Day” by Nomadic Matt. Travel expert Nomadic Matt dishes out knowledge for any wannabe budget travelers. Cost: $5.99
- “Your Move: The Underdog’s Guide to Building Your Business” by Ramit Sethi. A no-nonsense guide to building an online business. By us. Cost: $7.99
- “Take Off: How to Travel the World with Next to Nothing” by Bryce Conway. Take a deep dive into the world of travel hacking with this guide. Cost: $14.95
- “Listful Thinking: Using Lists to be More Productive, Highly Successful, and Less Stressed” by Paula Rizzo. Television producer Paula Rizzo shows you how to be more productive and get more done through list-making. Cost: $9.99
Now that you have Muscle Up’s first e-book, “Every Day is Leg Day: How to Scare People When You Wear Shorts,” you want to engage more with your community while making money.
How you can leverage other services to boost your product
Coaching is one type of service you can use as leverage to boost your product. It allows you to provide personalized guidance and charge premium rates for your expertise (if you go that route). With the flexibility to connect with clients via in-person, video, or phone sessions, you can reach a global audience and gather valuable feedback.
Plus, consider offering a free coaching session in exchange for permission to record it and sell it as a case study, turning your insights into additional revenue.
On my podcast, I discuss particular money problems with couples. While this service is made freely available to those watching the episode, the episodes have proven invaluable to other couples in similar situations.
For example, meet Noor and Jibran. They live in a low-income area with a high salary but disagree on money management, so they feel they can’t enjoy their income.
[00:02:26] Ramit: Noor, you wrote, “My husband always makes it seem like we’re broke and can’t spend. Why can’t we enjoy life a little?” Tell me about that.
[00:02:39] Noor: So you say to focus on the big things so we don’t have to think about the lattes and things like that. And I think that we focus on the big things and the little things, but if we focus on the big things, can’t we just enjoy DoorDash sometimes?
[00:02:54] Ramit: Noor, I saw the application you sent in, and I heard that you love convenience. Do you spend money on convenience?
[00:03:03] Noor: I try to.
[00:03:04] Ramit: All right. Like what?
[00:03:06] Noor: We have two little kids, so life is very busy right now. And life is really messy. So sometimes I’d like to spend money on like cleaners, or HelloFresh, or just something like that, but he doesn’t share that value, I guess. So I try to spend money on convenience. One time our house was really messy. We had a lot of visitors and stuff, and our kids just throw all the food on the floor. So I’m like, maybe we should just get cleaners. It’d been months. As soon as I said the words, he was in the basement and came up with the mop. So I try to spend money on convenience, but I’m not always successful.
[00:03:46] Ramit: And how old are the kids?
[00:03:47] Noor: Three and one.
[00:03:49] Ramit: Wow. Okay. All right. Do you love cleaning, Jibran?
[00:03:53] Jibran: It’s important. You have to have a clean house.
[00:03:56] Ramit: Let me ask that question again. Do you love cleaning?
[00:04:01] Jibran: I love cleaning some things. I enjoy vacuuming. It’s a nice Sunday afternoon activity.
[00:04:08] Ramit: I got you. Okay. All right. Do you have a regular cleaner right now?
[00:04:13] Jibran: No.
[00:04:13] Ramit: No. Okay. What about travel? Do you like to travel?
[00:04:17] Jibran: Mm-hmm.
[00:04:17] Ramit: You do.
[00:04:17] Noor: Yes.
[00:04:18] Ramit: Who likes it more?
[00:04:19] Noor: Probably me.
[00:04:20] Ramit: Okay. So would you say it’s like pretty frequent that you go and take a trip?
[00:04:24] Noor: Up until recently, all of our travel would be either for weddings or to visit my family because they live out of state. So more like leisure vacations we put on the back burner for many years.
[00:04:38] Ramit: How many years?
[00:04:41] Jibran: Probably the last three, four years, to be honest. When you have a young kid and you’re traveling for family. You’re in that era where a lot of millennials are getting married. So that’s the whole extent of your travel.
[00:04:55] Noor: I would disagree. I think that we have put travel in the back burner since we’ve been together since 2016.
[00:05:03] Ramit: Why is that?
[00:05:04] Noor: Before we had kids, he started an event service company. It was mostly on the weekends when we would travel, and he would see money lost. When he started the company, he was a worker of the company rather than a business owner, which I understand, but he wouldn’t want to turn it off for a weekend or for a week for us to go anywhere because he’s like, oh, then I’ll lose $1,500. I’ll lose $1,000 or whatever.
Noor and Jibran have a difficult relationship because of how they view money, vacations, and priorities. But the important thing is that they aren’t the only ones who relate. I have thousands of listeners who have experienced something similar, and this free podcast episode gives a lot of value to my subscribers and helps them improve their relationships and money management.
In case you’re curious, they worked through these problems during the rest of our conversation.
[00:37:45] So I want to share my observations from having spoken to you. I think that both of you are living a story that your parents taught you. It’s actually a very empowering story in many ways. The story is, work hard, be generous, and good things will happen. Well, guess what? They did happen. You have two kids. You have a loving relationship. You have a million dollars and very high income in a very inexpensive area. But I don’t think your parents ever taught you what happens next. Did they?
[00:38:27] Jibran: No. My parents never turned that corner, so they never taught that.
[00:38:32] Ramit: Right. So they said, save, save, save, work, work, work, dot, dot, dot. But what’s after that? Do you know?
[00:38:42] Jibran: We’re figuring it out now. And that’s what we’ve talked about, the whole change in ebb and flow of life of doing those vacations. Not just giving volunteering of time, but also monetarily paying for other services that I’ve never dreamed of paying for growing up.
[00:39:05] Ramit: Like what? Lawnmower, cleaners?
[00:39:08] Jibran: Yeah, somebody mowing.
[00:39:09] Ramit: Just as an example– again, it’s your money. I’ll never tell you what to do with your money, but if I had a million-dollar net worth, if I had cashflow like the two of you do, there’s so many things I would think about doing differently. Just one of them is to take the things that are important to me and do them more frequently. So as an example, instead of a cleaner, it could be once a month. It could be once a week.
[00:39:35] With two children, certainly there’s things to do. For parties, which you mentioned you love, the question I would just sit down and ask you is like, what would make this magical? I’ll give you one idea, then you give me one. Magical would be have somebody clean before, and then have somebody clean the next day. So the party ends, you two go to sleep, and then they come the next morning, and boom. That would be magical, don’t you think?
[00:39:59] Jibran: Yeah.
[00:39:59] Ramit: What would make it magical for you? The thing that you love already, make it even more.
[00:40:05] Noor: Well, for a Diwali party, we had a henna artist come, and that was magical, so things like that.
[00:40:10] Ramit: Love it. Keep going.
[00:40:12] Noor: Maybe a pianist.
[00:40:14] Ramit: Whoa. Okay, that’s cool. Love that. Let’s switch to travel, which you mentioned is important to you. Give me an example, Jibran, of what would make travel magical.
[00:40:26] Jibran: Yeah, so we’re talking about this for our upcoming travel, and the magical one I’ll steal from you is having a babysitter. While we’re out with the two kids somewhere, have a babysitter come over so we can have free time in the evening or even during the day.
[00:40:38] Ramit: While you’re traveling.
[00:40:39] Jibran: Yeah, while we’re traveling.
[00:40:43] Ramit: I like that. Okay.
[00:40:44] Jibran: That’s what we’re talking about and thinking about for these–
[00:40:46] Ramit: Any parents in the room think that would be magical when you’re traveling? Yeah. I like that. You got anything else?
[00:40:54] Noor: Well, he stole mine.
[00:40:56] Ramit: That’s okay. The good thing about a Rich Life is there’s an unlimited number of things you can do. In fact, I calculated some numbers just from looking at your CSP, and if you continue on the path you are currently on, no changes, no raises, the same income in your early 30s for the rest of your entire life, by the time you are 65, you will have $9.2 million. What do you think about that? Noor looks happy. Jibran looks worried. He’s like, it’s not going to be enough. $9.2 million means that you could conservatively pull $370,000 a year out forever. That’s a lot of money, right?
The solution we discussed together can be very valuable to other couples battling similar money dynamics. This kind of free “product” could be leveraged to help your current audience and also grow your audience.
Information product idea #2: Membership site
- Price: $10 – $100+ per month
- Time to make: 1 – 4 weeks
A membership site is a website that requires a paid membership or subscription to access. It frequently includes valuable, exclusive content and can even incorporate other information product ideas, such as e-books and online courses.
Membership sites are perfect for any information that requires frequent updating (e.g., airline fares). They provide your clients with a consistent source of knowledge that will direct them to your site.
A few other benefits of having a membership website:
- You provide your clients with a community wherein they can interact with you and each other.
- A consistent stream of recurring revenue from your members, and you have the choice of billing them annually or monthly.
- The model is easily scalable. You’re limited by the number of people interested and willing to pay.
However, the membership site model isn’t for every entrepreneur or business. You have to consistently provide premium content to your members, which requires a lot of sweat equity. Membership sites also need a fairly complex technical setup, and maintaining a community is a never-ending job. It’s also tough to start: people won’t come to your site unless there are … other people there.
Like every other information product on this list, you should ask yourself: Will a membership site service my business better than another information product?
For example, if your business taught clients how to find the best restaurant deals in major cities worldwide, you might consider a membership site. That way, you can update your clients on the best food deals.
However, if your business helps customers teach their dogs how to fetch a beer from the fridge, a membership site won’t also serve your needs.
Check out these great examples of membership sites:
- CountryGuitarOnline.com. Channel your inner Willie Nelson and learn how to pick along with the best of them with these guitar lessons. Cost: $14.95 / month
- ScottsBassLessons.com. Get the best beginner tips and lessons to slappa da bass, mon (terrible Jamaican accent not necessary). Cost: $168 / year
- PencilKings.com. This is for artists seeking a community of creative individuals and artistic instruction from the pros. Cost: $29.95 / month
At this point, Muscle Up is considering a membership site to create a community of dedicated clients passionate about fitness. By offering exclusive content, such as videos and blog posts from professional bodybuilders, you can provide valuable insights on achieving a great body.
There’s another information product idea that’ll help Muscle Up build recurring revenue and offer amazing value to your clients…
Information product idea #3: Online courses
- Price: $100 – $1,000 + per course
- Time to make: 1 month – 1+ years
Online courses are a low-risk, high-reward information product that allows you to reach people all over the world. The best part? You don’t need a bunch of design acumen or knowledge or coding.
In fact, it can be something as simple as you walking through your audience through some slides that have been designed to convey the information you want to teach. You can start building these courses today if you want.
Online courses are also easily scalable. This means that once you build one, you can attract as many customers as possible.
You don’t need to get every reader to buy your course either. When I released my first online course, I discovered that 80% of the revenue came from just 4% of my email subscribers.
You don’t need a huge list. What you need is to simply get started..
Here are a few great examples of online courses that have stood the test of time:
- Nerd Fitness Academy. Get fit and strong even if you’re so nerdy. You make Urkel look like George Clooney. Includes meal plans, workout regimens, and access to a community of fitness-minded nerds. Cost: $99
- A Strenuous Life. Brett McKay and the Art of Manliness team give you a course on improving yourself mentally, physically, and spiritually. By the end of the 12-week boot camp, your mustache will be growing a mustache. Cost: $225
- Emotional Resilience. Tree Franklyn helps women manage their emotions through a system of resilience. Perfect for anyone who just wants to stop feeling overwhelmed all the time. Cost: $195
Muscle Up’s new powerlifting course, “Lift Big, Get Big,” is a hit! Your customers love it, and you’re surprised that only a small percentage of your readers purchased it to make a hefty profit.
Information product idea #4: Templates
Price: $10 – $100+ per template
Time to Make: 1 – 2 weeks
Templates are pre-designed documents or files that users can customize for their needs. They range from business documents like invoices and marketing plans to creative assets like social media posts and presentation slides.
One of the biggest advantages of selling templates is their scalability. Once you create a template, it can be sold to countless customers with minimal additional effort. This means you can generate income repeatedly from a single creation.
However, creating templates requires a keen understanding of your audience’s needs and a commitment to high-quality design. If your templates aren’t user-friendly or don’t meet your customers’ expectations, they won’t sell.
Muscle Up has created fitness templates to help subscribers reach their goals. The templates include workout plans, meal prep guides, and daily fitness trackers. Basically, ready-to-use tools to track progress.
Other profitable business ideas you can use
Congrats! Now, Muscle Up has four amazing potential digital product ideas that can help you make money.
It’s time to turn our pretend playing into a reality and develop your information product ideas.
For more actionable insights and to dive deeper into profitable business strategies, check out “The Ultimate Guide To Profitable Business Ideas”. It’s packed with practical advice to help you turn your ideas into real financial success. Just tell me where to send it!
