What you will learn
- Why proper documentation and backups are absolutely necessary for any Info Product
- Upsell tips that could easily 2x your profit potential
- The amazing benefits of having an active community around your product
- Pros and cons of evergreen content vs launch events
Mark sold his first Info product, a frequent flyer ebook, in 2009.
We started selling Info products on HealthAmbition 4 years ago, and it’s been over 3 years since we started selling courses on AuthorityHacker.
We just about completed migration to the new TASS/member platform and figured it’s as good a time as any to talk about things we learned while selling and maintaining Info products.
One thing we can say right at the beginning: you can make a lot of money with them.
- We are well into the 7-figure range with ours
- We know people who do 7-figure launches and who make mid six figures per month
That being said:
- Info products don’t work in every niche
- It’s not as easy as it sounds.
First, the WHY?
Info products are a great business model because you create it once (although we’ll see that’s not really true in one of the list items) and sell it many times.
You don’t need to deal with inventory / cash flow. You can also sell 24/7 with high leverage (selling 100 is not really any more work than selling 1).
Owning the product opens up traffic channels outside of SEO:
- Paid traffic
- Affiliates
- And so on…
If you can sell an info product, you can sell pretty much anything.
Tip #1 – Pick the Right Tech Stack
Old
New
For more tools and tech stack recommendations, check out our article about The Best Online Marketing Tools.
Tip #2 – Prepare to Update Your Info product
We didn’t update TASS for long enough.
Your will need to do this. It’s never 100% set and forget, even with evergreen teaching such as playing a guitar.
Online marketing is particularly prone to this:
- You get software updates that look different
- New ways of doing things appear
- Better tools come out
Not only this, but you yourself get better too
- Your skills develop
- You get feedback from your students
Update your product as you go. You will also have to do full rebuilds from time to time:
- The patchwork approach can get messy with video, say if you use one tool throughout your course and need to change the tool.
Set aside time to check what needs to be updated. Listen to your audience / support closely.
- Big problems are usually only voiced by a few. Others simply leave. Take care with this.
Let your audience know when you’ve updated something.
Tip #3 – Webinars Are a Great Way to Sell Higher Priced Items
We didn’t use any video for Juicing Factor. Don’t sell $7 ebooks, sell high value products.
- Can be a one-off or a cheap front end with an upsell chain
- Reach a price over $200 and it becomes less of an impulse purchase.
We have built AuthorityHacker into a brand that is fairly well recognized. But still, many people don’t know us.
A webinar is a great opportunity to
- introduce your customer to you
- provide a ton of value
- sell them your Info product
Tech is important as it can be a bit temperamental sometimes. But remember to actually deliver value. Actually give people a reason to buy your product.
Tip #4 – The Community Is More Than Just an Add-On
We don’t have a community for HealthAmbition.
Many people make a buyers/members Facebook group: post a bit at the start and then hire some cheap VAs to moderate it.
It’s so much more than a way to add perceived value on your sales page. Most people say that the community is the best part of AH Pro.
Build It Right
Keep it commercial-free (we’ve turned down 5 figure deals to sponsor it). Kick out anyone being a dick.
Give them stuff through this community channel:
- free stuff
- first to access updates (beta test)
Answer questions yourself.
Make it a two-way channel
- We have some very smart people in our group.
- We learn a lot FROM them.
- We don’t know everything.
- If you cultivate this open / sharing mentality the group will be amazing.
Note: Just FYI you are not allowed to sell access to a FB group – so always label it as a free bonus.
Tip #5 – Backup/Keep All Video Files
Don’t just rely on having them on vimeo/video platform. Have a backup on Google Drive.
Name + organize files so you can find them easily (i.e Product + module + lesson number + name).
Upload the raw video files to the same area.
It will make editing much easier, especially with multiple people. Even if not, you do lose stuff.
Tip #6 – Scarcity Sells
There are many people out there who want your course but for whatever reason haven’t pulled the trigger
The simple truth is that scarcity / fear of missing out helps sales.
In the old days people would put a fake countdown timer:
- It actually worked!
- But now people see through it, and it hurts you in long term next time you do a launch.
The solution? Real scarcity.
Scarcity Points
1) Price discount – “watch our webinar and get a discount. Expires in a few days.”
2) Limited time bonus / bundle:
- another product added – complementary and useful to the buyer
- more features – extra templates
- beware of going too far – don’t make your core product unusable without bonuses
3) Permanent price increase
4) Limited time availability / going away:
- Launches
Use real evergreen scarcity with Deadline funnels.
Tip #7 – Have Upsells
Originally we sold the Juicing Factor on it’s own. Doing an Upsell added +40%
A percentage of buyers are usually ready to spend more. Give them an option to do so
- Better access to you (1-on-1 coaching / Custom plan)
- Inner circle group
- More training
- Different format (i.e if you have a written course, upsell a video course)
Many people run break even front end (ads or affiliate) and make profit on their upsell.
And these can be a lot more expensive if you can deliver the value.
Statistically speaking, 20-30% of customers should take your top option. If more people take it, it’s probably too cheap.
Try to design your product with the upsell in mind, rather than figuring it out after you’ve built it.
Tip #8 – Experiment With Big Launches
For AH Pro in the past, we just announced it and made it available initially. When we closed it and opened for limited time only, it made a lot more sales.
There really is no right answer between the evergreen and the launch methods.
Evergreen
- Set and forget – runs while you sleep
- Can make continuous small improvements
- Stable + steady income (sort of)
Launches
- Big events attract affiliates
- Compound marketing effort
- Can make you a lot of money fast
- If something goes wrong, it hurts
- Irregular income can be a bit difficult
Of course, you can do both.
Tip #9 – Contact Your Customers Everywhere
We neglected FB ads for a launch. The next time we made high 5-figures from them.
- Evergreen or launch, you will need to hammer email a fair bit.
- Make your copy good by split-testing first your headlines then the body.
- Different times of the day / days of the week.
- If a deadline is coming up, email twice that day.
FB Ads
- Retargeting ROI is insane.
- Cold traffic can be good but it requires work and a very solid funnel.
Others
- Push notifications (Often overlooked)
- Affiliates
- Creative ideas
- SMS
- Messenger
Tip #10 – Collect Testimonials Everywhere
Well we still don’t do that properly. Aiming to fix this. If you do have a success story to share, email us. 🙂
When you’re selling Info products, social proof is everything:
- Have well known authorities recommend you
- Tell customer journeys
- Before/after pictures
How to Collect Testimonials
- Automation: 2 months after product sale, email people with satisfaction survey
- Ask people when meeting in real life
Incentivize
- Free upgrade
- Free consulting
- Gift cards
Bonus #11 – Make the Product Good
We’ve given you 10 tangible ways to succeed. But if your core product sucks, it’s not going to work.
Focus on quality first and then do all the cool stuff we mentioned:
- Deliver insane value
- Teach the topic thoroughly and well
- Make it actionable
