Selling Information - Tips for Beginners

The problem with selling How To information

Do you remember back in algebra how some kids (maybe you) became completely stumped and choked on word problems?

The problem is that these kids knew how to add, subtract, multiply and divide. They just couldn't apply this knowledge. So while the classic word problems starting with "a train leaves Philadelphia going 60 MPP..." requires basic math to solve, some kids just couldn't reason out what order to do the calculations, which numbers to use, and why.

With me so far?

OK, so now we run into the problem of people buying tons of good "how to make money online" books, but they aren't making money.

Why not?

I would guess it's because they are starting to acquire the basics (like addition, subtraction, etc), but they can't APPLY this knowledge.

Worse yet, gurus who know their marketing like the back of their hand are making "logical leaps" when they teach--leaps that the beginner student isn't ready for yet.

So for example: an online marketing student learns that "the money is in the list," so she starts building list. But she doesn't see any stinkin' money.

Why not?

Because she didn't fully integrate and apply everything dealing with list building, including the beginning step--where to get targeted traffic.

Another example...

Let's suppose someone listens to Phil Wiley talking about how to build mini sites selling cell phones. Great idea. The person wants to give mini sites a whirl. But she's stumped, because she can't apply the info...she can't think beyond "cell phones" to come up with her own profitable market.

(This is like the kid who finally understands the "train leaves Philadelphia" word problem, but you can completely stump him if you change the details. This behavior used to baffle math teachers who saw kids finally "get it" on their homework problems, but then flunk the test. They couldn't apply and carry the knowledge over to new situations.)

So as a person who is creating info products, how do you help your readers apply this knowledge and make these leaps?

I have no freakin' idea.

BUT, I do know one thing...teachers who are still students themselves make better teachers because they don't skim over what they deem as "obvious," but which is actually new to their students.

(There was a psych study done that compared grad student teaching assistants to professors--and the students liked the TA's better...possibly because they weren't "experts" and knew how to come down to the student's level and explain it in a way that made sense.)

So what if you are an expert in some field, how should you teach so your students understand?

One idea is to do what Terry Gibbs does--he "writes" books on the phone with someone else. This person is a "novice" in the field, and he/she will say "HUH?" if Terry flies above their head. This person will ask for clarifications.

What a good idea.

If you've already written the book and your readers need clarifications, sometimes it's too late. Granted some customers email you and ask what you mean. But some will just ask for a refund and disappear forever.

Cheers,

Rebecca "Becky" Hagel

Rebecca Hagel is the author of The Missing Link -- the book that shows you how to turn a list of subscribers into a pack of hungry buyers.