It’s very important that you have the knowledge and skill to create really good Information products. You need to have some Info products of your own.
Because your business will actually make money from the sales of those products. And of course, in addition to that, you can also sell affiliate products…
So you’re going to discover a shortcut to easily come up with great new Info product ideas.
This same shortcut can also be used to easily create content for your emails, videos, blogs, etc.
Basically it’s all about…
Stealing Ideas
The best way to create a really good Info product is to find successful products in your niche and create a better version of that product.
“Good artists borrow, great artists steal.”Pablo Picasso
“We have always been shameless about stealing great ideas.”Steve Jobs
You can use this technique on any type of product.
For example, you can create better versions of existing ebooks, software, membership sites, Infographics, video courses, etc.
Adopt this technique and you’ll find it much easier to create any kind of Info product whether it’s a lead magnet to build your list, or a product to sell to your prospects.
This idea is also endorsed by James Altucher, the best-selling author of ‘The Power of No’ and ‘Choose Yourself’.
ou can read his article on his blog, called “How To Steal And Get Rich”.
He lists several examples of inventions whose idea was “stolen” from someone else like the Telescope, Telephone, Superman, Adsense, Star Wars, Chess and more…
I stole the idea for this article from his article. Proof I walk the talk. 🙂 This is my own version of that idea.
And more interesting is the following video… it will show you how Nikola Tesla came up with the original idea for a smartphone!
It’s a great (and kind of extreme) example of what happens when you take someone’s else idea and just improve it.
I personally use this stealing technique all the time.
Many years ago there was a very successful SEO software by Brad Callen called SEO Elite. I figured out the product’s weaknesses and hired a programmer to build a better version of the software without those weaknesses.
In the end, I had a really good software product that used to sell really well.
Since most of the time you’re stealing ideas from existing products that are already selling well, you won’t have to worry whether your prospects will like your product or not.
You’re not generating brand new, untested ideas. You’re modeling what already works.
Contribute Value
This technique is not about copying word for word someone’s else article or ebook or clone their software. That can get you into trouble.
Your goal as a business owner is to provide value to the marketplace (the marketplace consists of the prospects within your niche, therefore your audience that needs your help).
If you create an identical copy of someone’s else product you’re not contributing anything new and valuable. You’re just pissing other people off.
But if you improve existing products you’ll be adding value.
7 Ways To Improve Existing Products
Here are some ways you can improve existing products within your niche:
- If it’s a software try to identify any missing features. What would customers of this software product need that it lacks?
You can search for any negative reviews using Google to understand its weaknesses and learn how to make the product better. - If it’s an Amazon book you can read any negative reviews left by customers. Figure out what they’re complaining about, what they don’t like so you’ll know how to write a better version of that book.
- Find forums within your niche and ask them for their honest opinion about a specific product. You’ll then understand what they don’t like about it.
- If the product is really expensive, like for example ClickFunnels in the Internet Marketing niche ($97/mo), there will be a lot of prospects who won’t afford it. So you can create a cheaper version of that product.
- Put yourself in your customers’ shoes and figure out what are those things you’d want to see in a particular product.
For example if it’s an ebook perhaps the author doesn’t mention anything about a particular topic. Or perhaps the information can be better explained if it was a video course instead of an ebook. - Universal ways to make any Info product better is to simple add more detail and content. Give more in-depth information.
Clarify the information you’re sharing using screenshots, images and if possible videos too. Use more examples because people can learn better with them. - Another option is to research all products within your niche about a particular topic, for example ‘child behavior’.
Learn all you can about those products by reading their sales letters, table of contents, customer reviews or perhaps even buy a few of them.
Then your goal is to create a new product (on the same topic) that’s somehow different than your competitors’ in one way or another.
Figure out what those products lack and be the person who fills those needs. Maybe they contain a lot of theory but not so much real actual examples. Or they’re not too practical. Or maybe they’re too difficult to understand.
If you look deep enough you can find ways to improve any product.
Some research and thinking is required to figure out ways to create a better version of an existing product/s.
The whole point is to avoid creating a brand new product from scratch. Because coming up with completely new product ideas is not easy.
Furthermore, you won’t really know if your prospects would actually like your new product (unless you do some surveying upfront and that kind of thing…)
Instead, you can find new ideas just by looking at your competitor’s products. And then you just figure out ways to make them better.
Another advantage of doing this is that you already know it’s a good product, something that your prospects want, more so if you steal an idea from one of your competitors’ best selling products.
Steal New Content Ideas
You can also steal new content ideas for your emails, blog posts, Facebook posts or whatever you need, not just product ideas.
You just steal ideas from your competitors’ websites/blogs, youtube channels, article directories or anywhere else. Then make your own or a better version of that piece of content. Sidenote About Content Producing content on a daily basis should be one of your daily tasks. There are 3 main content types you can produce. Choose which is best for you. You can write blog posts, make audio (podcasting) or video (Youtube, Facebook Live, etc.)
Start producing content even if you have few people on your list… even if you don’t think you’re an “expert”. All you need is something valuable that you can share with your audience.
Now let’s find out some other places and examples to steal product or content ideas.
For example, find the top gurus/competitors within your niche and subscribe to their newsletters.
When you need new ideas for an email just look at all the emails they’ve sent you. A particular subject line might give you that hot idea you need.
Or if you need an idea for a new blog post find all the blogs of your top competitors’ and look at their posts until you find a good topic for your own post.
You can then read their actual post and figure out ways to make it better.
Let’s say an article with this title “7 ways to discipline your child” inspires you to write about that topic.
One simple way to make it better is to make it longer, perhaps “12 ways to discipline your child” or even “30 ways to discipline your child”.
You’re not just copying word for word that article, you’re contributing value to your marketplace by improving the article.
If you’re making videos you can check Youtube, Facebook Live, etc. for content ideas.
Remember the idea is to steal their content ideas and create your own unique or a better version of that piece of content!
That’s just way easier than spending hours thinking and wondering about a new topic for your next video or blog post.
If you want to create a video course you can steal ideas for your videos from Youtube Channels without your niche.
Or you can get topic ideas for your video course from existing products within your niche.
The product format doesn’t matter. For example, you can steal topics and content ideas from ebooks, forums, membership sites, etc., and use them to create videos for your video course.
Steal Ideas From
Ebook Directories
You can also steal ideas from ebook directories.
https://www.amazon.com/Kindle-eBooks
I’d browse a category for example “cats” if my business was in that niche.
While browsing I might become inspired to create a product or a piece of content about a specific topic, for example, “cat aggression”.
Then the goal is to create a product that’s somehow better than all the other products on this topic.
I research all products (in any format e.g. ebooks, courses, etc.) that currently exist.
Figure out their weaknesses and ways I can make those products better. In that way, I’d deliver new and better value to the audience in my niche.
If you’re browsing an ebook directory and you’re inspired to create an Info product about for example “cat aggression”, you don’t necessarily have to write an ebook.
Information can be presented in various ways. You can put the information in an ebook, membership site, video, audio, mind maps, etc.
Consider the product format your prospects would prefer the most.
The idea is that you can find a new product or content ideas (from ebook directories, competitor websites, marketplaces like Clickbank, etc.) and then create a better version of that product.
Steal Content Ideas From
Article Directories
An easy way to steal topic ideas for your blog post, audio, video or products is to check an article directory.
Take for example EzineArticles.com. There are 499,606 authors contributing thousands of articles. If we’re in the cat niche we can make a quick search for “cats” and see a list of 57,566 cat articles.
Looking at the article titles we can start to be inspired for new ideas. Perhaps we get an idea to write about “cat aggression”.
I “stole” that idea from this article title: “Aggression Between Cats – How To Identify and Steps To Correct”.
Now you can read the actual article and figure out ways to make it better.
Indeed we can perform a new search for “cat aggression”. Now we see a whole list of articles just about that topic.
We cannot read every single article but we can take a quick look at each one.
Our goal is to create a better version of what’s out there. We can take all the ideas within all those articles to create a single “killer” article on the topic.
We can improve each idea by adding more detail or providing some additional useful information that’s missing. We can add images, videos, and more actual examples…
For example in one article you’ll read this: “Female cats can be just as territorial as males. This I know because I have one.”
Perhaps we can find actual scientific evidence of that statement and share it.
How Do You Know If
You Got A Good Idea
You can never be 100% sure your idea will be liked by your audience until you actually put it in front of them and read their feedback.
But you should feel quite confident about your idea, whether it’s a product, email or a content idea.
If you’re doubting it perhaps deep down you know it isn’t going to deliver enough value.
If so consider ways you can add more value until you feel confident enough that what you have can truly help your prospects!
Put yourself in your customers’ shoes and figure out what do they really want. How can your product/email/article/video, etc., give some really good value.
You don’t have to share the world’s best-kept secret that will solve all their problems, or reveal a hidden formula that instantly dissolves their problems overnight.
You just want to contribute some value…
Because contributing value is the ultimate aim of your Infobusiness.
An Internet business isn’t a money machine. The Internet is not the casino. We’re not trying to make a quick buck.
Our goal should be to add value to the Internet via our websites, emails, products, etc. If you want to make real money on the Internet you have to add real value.
“Money is one of the rewards you get for adding value to the lives of others.”Paul McKenna
Net worth $100MM
So after you steal ideas for a new product/email/video, etc., think of ways to make it as valuable as possible.
Don’t hold anything back. Give more and you’ll build a better rapport with your audience. They’ll start to like and trust you!
Remember, become a good thief 🙂
If you have any questions or comments regarding generating ideas, leave them in the comments below.