Escape The Time For Money Trap

People who have put in some years in business have accumulated a lot of knowledge along the way — knowledge and info that many others would like to know and learn from. – Fred Gleeck

If you offer a service as your business – say, you do copywriting or voiceovers – then you get paid by the hour or by the project (which still is a set of hours). To scale your service business, you could subcontract work to others, raise your rates or find efficiencies that allow you to complete more work in less time.

Fred Gleeck, a marketing consultant, offers yet another solution: creating information products based on your expertise and earning income unrelated to your time.

Gleeck helps his clients create and market these information products, so the client contributes the subject matter expertise, while Gleeck contributes the marketing. Copywriting and voiceovers are two real-life examples:

1) Bill DeWees is a voiceover veteran still active in offering that service himself for commercials, training videos, documentaries, etc. With Gleeck’s help, DeWees created a training program for aspiring voiceover artists. This gives DeWees a separate, standalone offering that provides diversification and additional income.

2) Bob Bly is a copywriting veteran who is also still active in providing the actual service, but who has scaled with information products. Books, courses, and training groups, all use Bly’s existing expertise but represent a separate and additional income source. While Bly already had some smaller product offerings, with Gleeck’s help, Bly created a more comprehensive membership program, allowing a higher price point.

In addition to scaling a service business, information products can be a retirement strategy

People who have put in some years in business have accumulated a lot of knowledge along the way — knowledge and info that many others would like to know and learn from. – Fred Gleeck

Gleeck calls information products an exit strategy for older business owners. They have the accumulated knowledge to pass on and may not want to actively offer the service firsthand. A service business owner could try to sell, but with no products, there is no tangible asset. Converting your service expertise into information products creates a tangible asset that you can monetize.

Information products could also help with the high unemployment rates for older workers

Older workers are facing higher unemployment rates than younger workers. With information products, having more years of experience in a given field is a competitive advantage, making information products an option for experienced professionals willing to transition from a corporate job to entrepreneurship.

The cost of entry is VERY low as long as they have a good roadmap. The two key elements to profitably make the transition from employee to infopreneur are: 1) knowledge of a topic others are interested in learning about and 2) Understanding how to set up, launch and profit from an info based business. The question is figuring out whether others will pay for what you’ve learned. – Fred Gleeck

Gleeck recommends that aspiring information product entrepreneurs apprentice with someone who understands the set up, launch and profit aspects. Gleeck majored in marketing and has a Masters in International Management from Thunderbird. He also has been in the information business since the 1980’s, starting with live seminars and workshops. You do need to understand business, especially marketing, (or partner with a consultant like Gleeck who brings these specific skills), to find success in information products. (Here are some tips for first-time entrepreneurs from experienced business owners.)

The online nature of many information products makes it a desirable offering in these pandemic times

People since the start of Covid are much more open to looking at ways to make money in a way that doesn’t even require them to step out of the house. All they need is their brain, specialized knowledge, a computer and an internet connection. – Fred Gleeck

While information products can include live events and training, many products are digital only – LinkedIn Learning, Coursera and Udemy are some prominent examples. However, you don’t need to create an entire platform to compete with LinkedIn and the large schools. You could focus on one e-book or online course. Unlike a product that needs to be manufactured or stored, information products have little overhead.

There isn’t just one ideal profile or background to find success in information products

Gleeck is 64 years old, and recent months have been the biggest months for his business. He is living proof that you don’t need to be a digital native to find success in information products. His clients are in a range of fields, so there isn’t just one type of expertise that is marketable.

The more specialized the knowledge and the more people want to know what that business owner knows, the more success is possible. – Fred Gleeck

Gleeck recommends checking for competition – if your area of expertise is currently being sold by others, then there’s a market for it.

Information products provide maximum flexibility

It is an additional income stream that can be incorporated into an existing portfolio of work.  If you still want to be in the service business (like the copyedit and voiceover examples I shared earlier), you can still do that. However, now you also have a way to scale your reach and income without trading time for money.

It is portable – as Gleeck pointed out, you just need your brain and an internet connection. A portable income is critical if you want to be a digital nomad.

Information products provide diversification. This pandemic has made clear how tenuous financial security can be when multiple industries are impacted simultaneously. If you’re a service business, you don’t want to be dependent on any one client. The customers for information products are different than done-for-you services, so you would have two distinct sources of income and some protection in a down market.

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Caroline Ceniza-Levine