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Unit 3: Information Products
3.1 Information Products a Boon or Bane for Internet Notes
An Information Product is any final product in the form of information that a person needs to have.
This Information Product consists of several Information Elements, which are located in the
organizational value chain. If it delivers knowledge and you can e-mail it to the customer or offer it as
a downloadable file, then it qualifies as an information product. So information products are files on
your hard drive that you send out electronically. Tutorials, e-books etc.
Information products can be created with little or no money. Information products can be reproduced
in any quantity-it is as simple as copying a file. Even if you sell a million copies, production costs
stay zero.
• With information products, inventory and the problems around keeping an inventory are
completely eliminated.
• With information products, shipping costs and problems around shipping are completely
eliminated.
• Because it is delivered electronically, the time-lapse between purchase and delivery is negli-
gible.
These advantages are enormous - and they can give you the edge you need to make your business
a success.
Hard goods have to be manufactured from raw materials using machinery. You’ll probably have to
hire someone to oversee the production. You’d have to have a system for keeping inventory—and
again someone to run that. You’d have to ship the products—with someone to oversee that—or
outsource the shipping function to someone else. These overheads make it difficult to be competitive.
Information products are cheap, easy, convenient and fast. The kind of thing you can
create and sell all by yourself.
3.2 Different Kinds of Information Products
E-books
E-zines and newsletters
Reports and research data
Tutorials, courses and help files.
3.2.1 Disadvantage of Information Products
The major disadvantage of information products lies in its perceived value - in other words what the
customer thinks it is worth before He/she buys it.
If it’s a real book, he/she knows that it probably wouldn’t get published if it were no good. He/She
knows it has been spell-checked. With an e-book, these assurances are not there. Anyone can slap
an e-book together and offer it for sale.
He/She also ends up with some data on her hard drive - not a book in her hands. People simply like
to hold things they buy. Many people shop to feel better.
There are a couple of effective ways to add to the perceived value of information products.
You could reassure your potential customer by showing testimonials from happy customers, by
offering a free download of part 1 while offering part 2 and 3 for sale, by offering a full, money-back
guarantee etc.
LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY 41
