Ambassador of Possibility

There are really only 3 things that you can sell: A product, a service, or information.  Each type has pros and cons, although some lean more towards one side or another.  For example, the development and manufacturing of a new product can be very costly and holds a lot of risk.   Providing a service is extremely labor intensive and is a hard business model to sustain; however, if you can stay with the current trends, there will always be a need for those who provide a service.  It is my belief and my experience that information is king.  Why?  It is relatively low cost to create, there is very little risk, and people are always going to need it.

I am in the information business.  Everyday, the information business becomes more and more digitalized, which makes it more cost effective than ever to share your content with more people, which means more profit.   One of the best things about being in the information business is that once you create something, like a book or article, you can use it in many different ways.  Plus, because the content is coming out of your brain, there is unlimited potential as to what you can create.

Being in the information business is great because it allows the creator to collect royalties in some cases.  It is so nice to receive a paycheck for something I only had to create once!  The tricky part about being in the information business is positioning yourself in a way that allows you to powerfully leverage what you have created. More and more businesses are using mediums like blogs and social networking to create a listening for their information.  Staying in touch with your fans on a regular basis will make it far easier to market and sell your information, and also position yourself as an expert. 

In the information business, content is king, so make sure you are always creating new stuff, and sharing it.  Free content is one of the best ways to build a strong following.  Use all the tools that are now available to you to create a relationship between your fans and your content.  You can also use their reactions as a means of testing the content that you intend on packaging and selling.  If you can successfully leverage yourself, you will be successful in the information business!

-Mark