That would include you if you have created your own ebook, telecourse, membership site, software, plugin, checklist package, calendar or video series that you sell.

Well, one of my friends is someone who I brainstorm with regularly and who I feel is doing a LOT of things right, as evidenced by her multiple six figure income.

Melissa Ingold.

Well, Melissa is teaching a new course for infoproduct sellers that is being covered in five parts:

1. Simple Planning that Helps You Get the Right Things Done, Faster
2. How to Work Less and Less, While You Make More and More Money Consistently
3. How to Easily Use Email to Market and Sell to Hundreds or Even Thousands of People at a Time
4. How To Get Others to Sell For You with Affiliate Marketing
5. How to Create Easy Information Products in as Little as 3 Hours & Launch Them for the Greatest Impact and Maximum Profit

I thought it would be fun to ask Melissa a tough question about each of those areas. And, despite a nasty stomach bug, she got it done for us. She's cool like that.

Before we dig in, though, be sure to click here
-> Melissa's Info Publishing Success System

Melissa has a cool video on the page.

Here is our interview. I hope you find it helpful.

Simple Planning.

Nicole: Melissa, we both know the many quotes that essentially say “Failing to plan is planning to fail.” (Alan Lakein) However, I also believe that over-planning can be detrimental, too, because it limits you in your flexibility.

What is your view on planning, specifically for an infoproduct seller, and what mistakes do you see them making that cost them money in this area?

Melissa: I agree that there is such a thing as over-planning, because what happens is that you get so caught up in creating this wonderful plan for your business that you’re not actually doing anything. So over-planning by itself will cost you money.

On the flip side, you do have to plan to some extent because if you don’t, you’ll get sucked into the cycle of looking busy without actually working – if you know what I mean. I personally hate to-do lists because they’re so overwhelming, and looking at one gives me an icky feeling so I don’t use them. Instead, I use Basecamp to manage all my projects which has a built in calendar. And then for my actual planning, I use pen and paper and a blank monthly calendar.

As an infoproduct seller, it’s especially important that you plan your month out, because if you don’t, you’ll find that the month will come and go and you still won’t have your product ready. There are a lot of little pieces that go into creating and launching an information product.

For instance, will you need to record audio? And if so, who is going to transcribe that? What about writing your promotional blog content and emails? You can’t expect to have those things done overnight. So planning out what needs to be done and will help you move your project along quickly.

Nicole: I agree. I work with a loose plan. It allows me to make sure things are moving on schedule, while still having the flexibility to pop in a quick blog post like this to help my readers, too.

Working Less while Earning More.

Nicole: We both outsource in our businesses and have for years. In this area, what would you say is the myth that people buy into that holds them back?

Melissa: I’ve found the number one thing that holds people back from outsourcing is money. They believe that it’s expensive and that they shouldn’t be hiring help when they’re not making any or enough money.

And it makes sense, right? I mean why pay for someone to do something that you can do yourself for free? But what they don’t realize; is that it’s costing them money whether they do it themselves or outsource.

Scheduling content to a blog isn’t free just because you do it yourself. In fact, it will cost you more money to do it yourself than it would to outsource it, but most business owners don’t see it that way. They don’t understand that their time is money.

Knowing what an hour of your time is worth is so important, because when you see the numbers, it all makes sense.

Let’s say you want to make $50,000 per year. Here’s how we would figure out what your hourly rate is worth:

Income Goal: $50,000
Divide by 50 weeks: $1000 (2 weeks off for vacation)
Divide by 5 Day Week: $200
Divide by 5 Hours: $40/hr. (based on 5 hours of focused work time per day)

So your time is worth $40 an hour. If you spend 3 hours scheduling blog content, it costs you $120. Does it not make sense to hire a VA to do it for you for $15/hr. (a skilled VA can probably do the same amount of work in half the time, which will cost you even less money)? Then you can spend those 3 hours on money making tasks like product creation and marketing your business.

I’m going to end this question with a quote from Loral Langemeier about outsourcing, “Time can be bought through team.”

Email Marketing.

Nicole: You and I both earn a sizable income from our relationship with our lists. (Love you all!) The biggest struggle that I see that people need to overcome before anything is getting people to sign up in the first place. As an infoproduct seller, what has really worked well for you to grow your list overnight?

Melissa: Squeeze pages have and continue to work really well for me. I have a whole process that I use to set up a winning squeeze page, but I won’t go into that here. I almost wonder if people think squeeze pages are too ‘old school’, so they’re not using them anymore.

Anyway, if you’re not setting up squeeze pages to funnel traffic to your list on autopilot, you need start doing that right away. This is where PLR content comes in really handy because you can get packages that come with a squeeze page already written and a freebie report that you can use to entice people to sign up. And some even come with emails already written for you. So make use of that type of PLR to make fast work of setting up your squeeze pages. Set them up and then forget them…they’ll work for you while you’re off living your life.

Nicole: Hey guys. Melissa has some PLR sets that include squeeze pages on her site.  PLR for Internet Marketers

Having a Rocking Affiliate Program.

Nicole: Considering that I have been pretty much your top affiliate for years, I know you know how to run an affiliate program that is enticing to promote.

To that person who is totally overwhelmed by having their own affiliate program (or whose affiliate program is pretty stagnant), can you tell me what benefits you've gotten from investing time and energy into yours?

Melissa: Growth. My business continues to grow and grow because my affiliates are out there spreading the word and promoting my products for me. I have this great sales force that I only have to pay when they make sales. So it’s not like it’s going to cost you money on an ongoing basis to run an affiliate program, no, it’s going to make you more money than you can make on your own.

It’s impossible for you to market your business all on your own. You just can’t reach everyone, everywhere, which is why having an affiliate program is so beneficial to your business – it allows you to expand your reach beyond your existing market, which means you can help more people.

Expanding your Product Line.

Nicole: I always ask my Coaching Clients “What's next?” One infoproduct does not make a solid business. Having a line of products does.

That said, adding a second and third product typically confuses people as to what to create next – and then how to promote it. So, in a nutshell, how do you decide what product to create next in your line?

Melissa: I think it makes sense to build on what you’re already doing. For instance, let’s say you have an ebook that is an overview of marketing on facebook and you’re trying to figure out what product to create next. Why not do a quick survey asking your people what they struggle with most when it comes to marketing on facebook. Then based on their answers, you can create multiple products that solve their problems. It could be a webinar where you walk them through setting up their facebook timeline, or a series of videos about building their list with facebook, or whatever it is that your market wants to learn.

Your one product doesn’t have to be it…you can expand on it and create a whole bunch of different products around that one topic. So you lead from a $17 ebook, to a $27 webinar, to a $47 video series, etc. And then expand on that again with a membership site, coaching program, live workshop, etc. You can do the same with all the topics you decide to create products on. Don’t just plan for that one product. Look at the bigger picture and then break it down into multiple products.

What's Next?

Be sure to check out Melissa's program here
-> Info Publishing Success System <-
to see if it's right for you.

Talk to Me.

What are your biggest struggles as an infoproduct seller?
or
Got tips? Share your answers to any of the questions above.

Warmly,
Nicole Dean