It’s very important to give your audience a context for your content so they can actually use your information. The definition of a context is a set of circumstances, facts, definitions that surrounds the particular event, situation or a set of information that gives it meaning.

I learned this the hard way several years ago when I led my first workshop. I began the training and realized half the audience didn’t even know what I was talking about, eyes began to glaze over. They did not have the context for the content I was presenting. I spent all the breaks teaching them the definitions of what they needed to know to make my information usable and relevant. It was exhausting and those people were overwhelmed with information.

By giving your audience the context for your information, which is your content, you’re really making it user friendly. You want people to use your information or it’s really useless as a product. Later on they might even buy more products from you, but they can’t continue to learn from you if they weren’t able to use the first product.

The word context comes from the Latin word ‘contextus’, which means to join together, to give a structure or a framework upon which to hang your information. It gives your content the necessary background information for it to be used. Think of it as connecting the dots for your audience, rather than having a bunch of disconnected information.

It’s important to remember that people can get easily bored, distracted and, most of all, easily discouraged. You’ve got to get your audience on the same page, so they have the basic foundation to use your information product. This reduces boredom and discouragement at the first sign of not knowing what you’re talking about.

It’s your job to help people use your content and to engage them. You must step out of your own head, out of your own experience and look at your information from the eyes of a brand new person to your information, from the perspective of a newbie.

A good exercise when beginning to create a product is write down all the definitions, facts, circumstances and frameworks surrounding your information that somebody brand new to it needs to actually use it. When you start this exercise really step back to before you knew the information yourself and become the observer.

“Information is a source of learning. But unless it is organized, processed, and available to the right people in a format for decision making, it is a burden, not a benefit.” – William Pollard

There are two mistakes that can stop you from creating your money-making products before you even begin. Don’t give in to these common mistakes. By deciding to create information products, you can multiply your time and efforts with a low investment.

These mistakes are not about the difficulty of technology when creating your information products. It can actually be quite easy to create valuable resources. The mistakes aren’t about getting your knowledge and information out of your head and into a product which can be a relatively painless process. These mistakes actually have nothing to do with the actual resource.

The two biggest forms of sabotage come from the creator of the product.

The 2 Biggest Product Creation Sabotage Mistakes

The first sabotage mistake is fear

When beginning to create products from their own knowledge and information, it’s almost like you are giving birth. It’s a piece of you, your information, gifts, talents and experiences you are compiling and organizing into a useable format.

With this process always comes fear which can manifest as the fear of imperfection. Don’t get stuck trying to make your product perfect. If you do, it will probably never come into existence. It’s better to create an imperfect resource that can help people than to never allow your it to be.

What to do instead: Create the best resource you can right now and let go of perfectionism which can paralyze you. This is one of the reasons I love digital and information products, it’s so easy to revise and update them if necessary.

The second sabotage mistake is failure to properly plan

When you create your resource, it’s important to follow a product creation timeline for completion of the various steps. If you don’t break down the entire project into bite-sized pieces and set a timeline for completion of each step, the entire task can become overwhelming. If you become overwhelmed, chances are you’ll do a little bit here and there but your product will never be completed.

What to do instead: Follow a product creation timeline. Break your project into the necessary chunks and stick to your timeline deadlines and you’ll have your product created in no time.

I know you’ve heard it said before, but what you resist persists and what you focus on grows. When people decide they are going to create an information product they get excited but many times fear sets in. It’s important to focus on what you can do instead of fear.

Humans have something that distinguishes us from any other species; it’s the power of choice and the power to exercise our will. If you go around reacting to the negative, focusing on it and allowing it to paralyze then you are not practicing willpower.

Anything is a practice. Meditation is a practice. Negativity is a practice. Reactivity is a practice. Allowing fear to paralyze you is a practice. Success, I believe, is also a practice. Sometime we just let our life circumstances take over and it becomes what I call a negative spiral.

What not to do

When you ask disempowering questions your mind goes through all the files in your brain looking for why that’s true. Let’s look at some disempowering questions:

* Why doesn’t anything work for me?

* How can I be so stupid?

* How come I never have enough money?

* Why would anyone listen to me?

Your brain starts looking for the answers, looking for why that is a true statement. You don’t want to ask those kinds of disempowering questions. What kind of product will you create in a state of disempowerment?

What to do instead

Write down your top fears and frustrations, those things that keep you up in the middle of the night. These are the things that you’ve probably been ruminating over and have been running through your mind like a little mouse on a treadmill.

Here’s how to change your fearful, disempowering thoughts into new empowering, possibility focused questions:

* How can I….?
* Where can I find the good in this..?

* What action can I take to make this better…?

* What would it look like if…?

Keep your list of new empowering questions with you at all times, because you will fall back into your old habits. It’s what you do when you notice yourself falling back into old disempowering habits and patterns that will determine your success. When you find yourself awake at 2:00 am get out your new list and let your brain start helping you figure it out.

If you do fall into old fearful habits, get excited that you’re aware of it. Awareness is the key to all positive change.

One of the biggest questions people who want to begin an online business and sell their products is how to actually make any money since it seems everyone is giving away free stuff. They ask “Why would anyone actually buy anything if you can get everything for free?”

There are many people making money online with their information. It is true that most websites are giving away a free taste of their products and services but there is a method to this madness. It’s like the free taste they give you at your local ice cream store. Usually it’s in an attractive pink spoon. When you have that small free taste, most people will want more and end up buying an ice cream cone or a sundae. The same is true for websites selling information products. This is one of the reasons for all the free stuff you find online.

Another reason is for the website to build their list community. They do this through the exchange of information. The online entrepreneur is giving away the free taste but at a price. The price for the free taste is the website visitor giving their contact information, their name and email address. Once a business begins to compile a database of subscribers, or a list community, they can contact them with more free tastes of new products. So what exactly is in the free taste of your product? There’s a science to giving away the free stuff because you don’t want to give everything away or there’s no reason for your customer to purchase from you. What you give away as your free taste is the Why and the What of your information. Why the information works and What is in the full, paid version of your product. The part you sell after the website visitor has joined your list community is the How of your information. The How of your information is the actual step-by-step process or recipe you teach.

If you want to succeed having an online business, there are several skills I recommend to make your success easier. These skills are not as difficult as you might imagine because of easy to use technologies. If you master these skills, they can help you take advantage of huge online opportunities.

Several years ago, I was invited as a guest on Oprah’s XM radio show to talk about spirituality and Law of Attraction. This was a huge opportunity that fell into my lap. I described on the show my dream of having a virtual podcast because people who went to my live weekly meetings couldn’t always attend and they had friends and family who lived elsewhere and wanted to attend. Oprah loved the idea and asked me to mention my website at the end of the interview.

I didn’t actually have the website live yet, it was just an idea at the time, but I did have several domain names I had purchased. One of the website names flew out of my mouth and once the interview was over, I realized I had 6 weeks until the interview actually aired to create my website and start a podcast.

Skill 1: Learn to Create a Website.

I paid a college student to show me step by step how to create my own website. I had a fancy, expensive website for my bath and beauty products business at the time, but I wanted to be able have control over this website and make changes when necessary. I got the website live in a few weeks to really take advantage of this golden opportunity. Now I am so happy I learned how to have control of my website, which is the door to my business. Without this skill, you are basically opening a business and giving the only master key away to another person. Please don’t do that!

Skill 2: Learn to do Teleseminars.

My podcast site really began with a 30 day early morning inspirational teleseminar series. This series was then transcribed and turned into my first of many books. It has also become an audio program and a membership site with online video, journal prompts and more. Content rich teleseminars are a quick and easy way to create products.

Skill 3: Learn to Recognize When Your Niche is Picking You.

I had no idea several years ago I would be teaching product creation. Sometimes your niche is picking you and you don’t even know it. It’s important to open your eyes to the possibilities and not be married to one idea so you are able to see your golden opportunity.

Skill 4: Learn to Be a MacGyver.

This is about being resourceful and resilient. MacGyver was that 80’s television show about a man who got the job done, no matter what, one way or another. This is the attitude you must have if you want to be successful at any business.

This is one of the biggest frustrations I hear when people want to start an online information product business. Many people get stuck trying to determine what and how much to give away. They see everyone giving things away and wonder how to create a sustainable business this way.

“But everyone is giving everything away for free on the internet, I can’t make any money doing that!”

This is actually not the case with people who are being successful with an online information business. Let’s take a closer look at how to let this misconception stop you before you even begin.

How to stop before you even start

Look around at online entrepreneurs in your niche and feel discouraged that they are giving everything away. Convince yourself that there is no future in starting and growing a successful website with your product ideas.

Go back to your job and feel resentful when you see another person being successful online.

Look back in 10 years and realize you had a golden opportunity to be the architect of your own destiny.

How to begin the right way

Successful online entrepreneurs are not giving everything away. They are only giving away part of their information. Here are three of the six important steps to creating your information product and where to find the part you do give away.

First, write out your story. This is your experience, your credentials (if any) and why you became interested in what you are teaching.

Second, write out your Why Outline. This is a list of 5 -10 reasons why your potential audience would want to learn what your product is about. This is where you get your free stuff that you give away to build your list community. This also becomes a sales tool because in it you’ll offer your prospect the whole How To Recipe.

Third, write out your actual How-To Recipe. This is your particular process, your step-by-step instruction and this is what you get paid for.

So begin with these 3 steps today to create an information product out of your information, knowledge and experiences.

Realize that there is effort involved. You don’t just put up a website and create a product and become an overnight success.

You grow an online business just like anything else, with persistent, daily actions and keeping your eyes open to the opportunities rather than the obstacles. As I sit here in my Pjs about to teach a class from the comfort of my own home, I can tell you the rewards are worth it.

When I’m coaching a new student who wants to turn their knowledge and information into a product, there are a few barriers that come up often. Here are 5 barriers I’ve noticed that keep some people from leveraging the power of the internet and easy product creation.

Barrier 1: Fear of the Unknown

This is the ultimate barrier to creating the life you want in any area. Many people get really excited when they see the possibilities and then when it actually comes down to following through and creating their products, they get scared of getting out of their comfort zone. This is one of the reasons I’ve always had a business mentor to guide me and gently nudge me forward, even through my own fears.

Barrier 2: Fear of People’s Reaction

This is described very well in one of Napoleon Hill’s chapters from the classic Think and Grow Rich book. People can get so afraid of criticism and rejection from others, they become self-conscious and insecure about taking action to turn their dreams into reality.

Barrier 3: Believing You Must Be Proficient at Technology

I only used to be able to send and receive email and now I can create an entire website from scratch, create all kinds of digital products, including streaming online video. I still don’t know exactly how it all works, I just know it does. It does not have to be hard. It’s kind of like learning a new language and a language that is revolutionizing the world.

Barrier 4: The “But Nothing is Really New” Syndrome

Many people say “There’s already someone else teaching what I want to teach” and this kills all their ambition before they even begin. If there are other products in your same niche that is a great sign there is a demand for them. Your specific twist or take on the subject and method of teaching it is what will differentiate you from the crowd.

Barrier 5: Poor Self – Management

When you begin to take control of your own destiny and responsibility for taking daily, consistent actions to become your own ultimate boss, excellent self management tools are a must. It is important to become selfish for a little while and do the important, business generating activities first.