Your Knowledge is More Valuable Than You Think
My soon-to-be in-laws, Sue and Billy, spend their summers living on a 30-year-old sailboat. Whenever I travel with them, I discover new things about sailing.
They taught me how to raise an anchor, the proper vernacular for “left” and “right,” and even showed me the ropes (literally).
But it wasn’t until our most recent outing that I realized the true value of their knowledge. We were dealing with extremely choppy water, and it was a little hairy getting from one side of the coast to another. But they weren’t worried – they had faced that before.
Without a hitch, they maneuvered us through the waters to the safe area on the other side using a strategy they’ve developed through necessity.
You see, they offer a more unique education than you’d get in a school setting. It’s real-world, in-the-trenches knowledge developed through trial-and-error. And, if they shared that knowledge, other hopeful sailors could tackle those situations with the same confidence they did.
I bet you have a subject you know a lot about, whether through experience or just having an interest in it, as well. And you’re probably the go-to person in your group of friends, family, and colleagues for questions about it.
Here’s the great news … there are people out there willing to pay for that information.
Earlier this year, I wrote a little bit about mining your experiences and education to create quality content. And that’s certainly a quick and fun way to make a living as a writer.
However, you can take your knowledge a level further and create full-fledged information products people can buy.
You’ve probably read a few info products before … time management books, courses on how to tackle debt, or even how to improve your golf game. They’re documents and videos that teach you a new skill, help improve your life, or show you how to overcome an obstacle.
The beauty of most info products is they’re inexpensive to produce. For an eBook or report, all you need is a good word-processing program and perhaps a little graphic design outsourcing for the cover. They’re very simple to create – you put in the work once, and then you’re finished.
And, since you publish and market it yourself, you get to keep 100% of the profits!
All you need to do is organize your knowledge in a simple, easy-to-digest way so people can go through at their own pace and achieve the results they’re hoping for. And, it doesn’t matter if your topic is original or unique … because your perspective and experience are!
Once you’ve written it, all you have to do is format it, get it on the web, and let your target audience know about it. And, with that, you can reap the huge rewards for your efforts, such as:
- A steady, passive income from selling it to your target market
- More writing clients from increasing your visibility
- Higher fees on future projects with your newfound authority
For your action step today, start to brainstorm subjects you know a lot about. A great way to uncover your strongest focus is to ask your family and friends – “If you could pick my brain about one topic, what would you choose?”
You might be surprised by the responses! If you’re feeling daring, share them in the comments section. I’d be thrilled to hear from you.
Tomorrow, I’ll show you how to increase your fan base and generate customers who will buy from you again and again.
Dan Kennedy’s Writing for Info-Marketers Training and Certification Program
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People want to know how I produce event video and video blogs. I have a book in the works!
Guest (Jen Knoedl) –
I know alot about dogs and training them also also about creative/fantasy decorating on a budget but WHO is going to want to buy that info from me??? Wish I had that answer for sure...
Guest (Laura) –
I read this last evening and right before signing off, I posted a request on my personal FB page. I asked my friends to tell me what they believe I am knowledgeable about. My first "wow" was in regard to the people who responded. Not the ones I necessarily expected to comment. And then the responses. I wrote every single one down in my journal. I see the common denominator! Thank you for this post. My niche is beginning to become clear to me.
Diane of Get Focused –
This will help me form an approach to a web page design and content strategy. Beginning steps are often obvious. But this is a little closer to what magic to use. Fascinating, useful and core to getting a grip in where to start, I think I'm internalizing AWAI's writers' wisdom.
Thanks! This is definately one of my three action steps. One and two are Accelerated Copywriting and COS.
Guest (Jenviet) –
What if you have an area of expertise that you've been writing about professionally for over 15 years?
I've been trying to find paying writing jobs that make the best use of my knowledge, but --so far--no luck.
And I can't afford $$$ for bootcamps, workshops, books, etc.
Guest (Scott) –
People ask me about relationships, which is a very broad topic, of course. I tend to help people in two areas - developing and maintaining relationships with clients, and keeping the romance in marriage relationships for the long haul.
Great start to the series, Robert. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of it.
Steve Roller –
Jen — that’s great! Glad to hear it :). Be sure to let us know when you release it!
Laura — The best way to find out is to do a little research on each subject. Look to see if there are other products in those industries out there and how they’re doing. Amazon is a great resource.
For what it’s worth, I would think anything on dogs/training would do incredibly well. The pet industry is huge.
Robert R –
Diane — Thank you SO much for your kind words. I am so glad to hear that asking around helped you find focus and clarity. It’s amazing what people can teach us about ourselves if we just let them.
Please keep me posted on your progress!
Robert R –
Jenviet — So glad to hear this is helping you get started. I would recommend checking out the link in this article if you want to read more about content :).
I’ve done a lot of work in content marketing/strategies and wrote a 5-part series on it, as well. Hope it helps you even more!
Robert R –
Scott — 15 years of experience in a field is significant; certainly enough to call yourself an expert.
If you are able, I’d recommend creating a quick website of your own and start putting out blog posts.
In addition to AWAI, you can find plenty of resources for developing a lucrative blog. Jon Morrow is also great.
It may not pay the bills right away, but it could become a home base. You can drum up an audience, sell info products to them, or use it as a portfolio piece for clients.
Robert R –
Steve — Thanks for reading this! I appreciate your feedback. I can personally say you’re darn good at what you do, and absolutely should be developing info products in those fields ;).
Look forward to seeing you in October!
Robert R –
I have been writing poems and short stories for as long as I can remember. I was told a long time ago that one of these days I am going to run out of ways to make money, and then I will take my writing more serious. Well, I got fired today from what I have always considered to be the last job I would ever work. Where do I go from here?
I was a teacher and I got into a shouting match with a kid and the kid said that he was going to get me fired. He won. Or, did he?
Guest (John) –