Are you thinking about starting an online home based business? If you are, then you must be wondering about the best way to make money on the Internet today. While I’m not sure it’s the best way to make money online, but it seems to be the most popular method, and that is marketing and selling information products. In this article we’ll take a look at the top three selling information products on the web and discuss why this is the case and why they may be the answer for any aspiring home business owner.
Electronic books or eBooks are the top selling information product on the Internet today. People just beginning an Internet marketing career are hungry for any information they can find especially when it pertains to topics such as Internet marketing or how to start an online home business. These products are popular with sellers for a number of reasons.
First of all they are easy to create. If the main theme of your business website is Internet marketing for example, then you can select a topic you feel most comfortable with and write a series of articles related to different aspects of this topic. You can then compile this information into an eBook format using one of the many different software packages available online.
Once created these books are easy to store and display on your website because they are all in digital format. The home business owner has no inventory to be concerned with as they would with actual physical products and there are no shipping expenses involved because the product is downloaded by the customer at the point of sale by a click of a mouse. Another plus from the seller’s point of view is the fact that there are no printing costs involved and editing is very easily accomplished by using any of the word processing software packages available on the web.
From the customer’s vantage point the immediacy of delivery is an important factor contributing to the popularity of eBooks. The information is available for download right after payment by just pointing and clicking so clients can enjoy their purchase immediately.
Also the ease of payment has to be an attraction. Secure credit card payment through Paypal and Clickbank are the most popular and efficient methods available. eBooks present a win-win situation for everyone involved and it’s easy to see why they are such a popular and viable option for both the home business owner and their customers.
Video is the next most in demand information product available online. Video is taking the Internet by storm as evidenced by the popularity of YouTube and other video sharing websites. These products are also very easy to create. You can produce an original creation or you can use footage you have already shot. All you need is a digital camera which also shoots video, a web cam, a home video camera or even a cell phone to create your merchandise.
Along with the ease of creation, the visibility of your product has an immediate impact on your potential customers more so than viewing a typical sales page full of text and graphics. You can create an entertaining piece with your offer being the star attraction centered on a short story.
Comedy is a very useful and very effective approach to video marketing and often contributes to successful viral video campaigns. Viral video marketing is essentially a word of mouth technique whereby people online send an entertaining production to one another via email. This is a great way to receive free advertising and create traffic to your home business website.
The possibilities are endless for your video products. You can create Internet marketing training courses related to several aspects of your favorite topic which can be sold separately. For example videos on how to drive traffic to your website, how to start a home business online and how to start an affiliate home business which can be packaged separately.
Again, as with eBooks, ease of distribution to customers is a big bonus for sellers. With the advent of streaming video people can view your product from your website after purchase. Once again the client doesn’t have to wait to enjoy their product and if they want a hard copy of their video the seller can make a DVD available to ship to their home.
Audio is the third most popular information product available for sale on the web. Audio is even easier to produce than video because all you need is a microphone and an audio software package which you can find online. Audio products are also easily downloaded through the MP3 format but you can also produce CD’s to ship if required by the customer. Another option is streaming audio whereby the buyer can listen to the product from your website.
If you’re an article marketer you can also create audio versions to go along with your text editorials which you can compile to create a training course or seminar. Audio offers all the advantages of eBooks and video to home business owners and customers which explains the popularity of all three and also explains why information products are such an attractive option for home business owners online today.