Information Products For the Writer
Posted by Guest Writer in 
Today we offer a guest post from Joy Randall. Find her bio below.
When something becomes familiar, we no longer pay attention. We hear about information products everywhere, and as writers, we tend to dismiss them as not relevant to us, whether we are journalists, novelists, playwrights, non-fiction writers, or aspiring authors.
The Wikipedia, the ever changing updated reflection of current “social” understanding defines information products as “any final product in the form of information that a person needs to have.” Information is defined as knowledge acquired through study, instruction or experience. Not too different from the source of our writing.
If that is true, it is likely information products are in our world on a daily basis, but we haven’t recognized them. I used to think they were just a sales gimmick that took off on the internet and supposedly made people instant millionaires, if claims were to be believed. Then I believed they were trying to be an authentic author without going through the tried and true process of being published.
However, with further investigation, it is clear information products are here to stay. They are either written or audio visual materials published by the author or by an established publishing company and can include:
Digital books or reports,
Printed books that come in the mail,
Guides to help you learn better from audio or visual,
Course materials and training,
Audio or visual recordings, or
Any combination of the above.
Stephanie Chandler notes “…information products can have many advantages for authors. You can use them to compliment topics from your books, thus attracting new readers while you increase revenues.”
As a writer, let’s take a fresh look at information products.
First, it is a whole new market for your writing talents. You can write for entrepreneurs or business professionals who wish to offer more to clients. This is true for traditional brick and mortar businesses or online business or a combination of both.
For example a writing coach usually interacts one-on-one with writers to guide them to success. The coach may have a full calendar, get the same questions over and over, want to provide a less expensive way to access their expertise, or create another stream of income. By writing an information product focused on the questions people ask regularly – story structure, writer’s block, voice, writing style, etc. – they can achieve all these goals.
While you want to stay focused on your writing, you can see in the example, there are other creative uses for information products such as marketing of your book, a way for fans to get closer to you, a vehicle for ideas, a tool to teach what you know without coaching one-on-one. This list is only limited by your imagination.
Beyond a new opportunity to write or to expand your business, let’s look at information products from your reader’s perspective and what they want. Lynne Klippel says it well, “Think of it like this: Your book is like a first date. If your readers resonate with your message, they will want more help and connection from you. When readers love your book, they want more.”
People have changed how they consume and share the written word. Since information products are here to stay, adding them to your tool box as a writer can broaden your publishing base as a writer, become a vehicle to share ideas for profit, duplicate what you do, expand your influence as an author, and reach a wider audience.
You can use information products as a way to reach the marketplace, gain expert status, increase your influence, and add other streams of income, which results in getting your readers to talk about you and encouraging referrals.
Joy Randall, founder of Wisdom House, has the gift of making the complex simple and easy to understand in the written word. She has put others’ voices in writing for over four decades. Her passion is writing and getting your voice heard and published. Aside from writing, her idea of fun is discovering new places and people, playing card and board games, cooking, gardening, and reading books curled up in an overstuffed chair.