Creating information products which you can sell on the Internet is not difficult, particularly if you can create a product which teaches people how to do something with a computer.
For example, there are many software programs which are quite difficult to learn. An example would be professional or semi-professional video editing software, which is generally quite complex and feature-laden. If you can create a video guide which shows your audience how to use the software, you have a potential product.
Of course, you need to be sure that you have a market. It makes sense to find out how many people would be interested in buying a training course on the particular topic you have in mind. If there are thousands of people using the software, you have a better chance of selling your product than if the potential market is 20 people.
To find out how big your market is, use a keyword tool - Google has one of the most useful tools, the Google AdWords Keyword Tool - it's free; just search for it. The tool will show you how many searches there are per month for the keyword phrase you type in. If you look for "(software name) training" or "(software name) tutorial" you should get a good idea of the size of the market.
Write down what you want to cover in your course. I use the free mind-mapping software, FreeMind, to help me arrange and rearrange ideas. Once you have a logical plan for your training course, you'll want to record it. The classic screen capture software is Camtasia Studio. This is a powerful and expensive program, which is really good. There are alternatives available, including at least one free alternative.
Find a quiet room, plug in your microphone and record your training course. I use a headset/boom microphone - you can pick these up for a few dollars. Explain every step you take, as if you were showing a friend how to use the software.
I recommend that you record in five minute segments, because video is difficult to scan. If your students want to find the part where you show a specific technique, it's much easier if they can find out which 5-minute video it's in (from the annotations you'll include with each video) than having to scan through an entire 60 minute video course.
Breaking it down into short segments also makes it quicker and easier to re-do a section if you make a complete mess of it. Don't worry too much about fluffs and mistakes - they show that you're human.
Once you've recorded your video course, you'll need to upload it to your hosting account, then create a couple of web pages to sell it and allow people to watch it or download it. This can be as simple or as complicated as you make it. Once you have everything in place you can go ahead and start promoting it.
For example, there are many software programs which are quite difficult to learn. An example would be professional or semi-professional video editing software, which is generally quite complex and feature-laden. If you can create a video guide which shows your audience how to use the software, you have a potential product.
Of course, you need to be sure that you have a market. It makes sense to find out how many people would be interested in buying a training course on the particular topic you have in mind. If there are thousands of people using the software, you have a better chance of selling your product than if the potential market is 20 people.
To find out how big your market is, use a keyword tool - Google has one of the most useful tools, the Google AdWords Keyword Tool - it's free; just search for it. The tool will show you how many searches there are per month for the keyword phrase you type in. If you look for "(software name) training" or "(software name) tutorial" you should get a good idea of the size of the market.
Write down what you want to cover in your course. I use the free mind-mapping software, FreeMind, to help me arrange and rearrange ideas. Once you have a logical plan for your training course, you'll want to record it. The classic screen capture software is Camtasia Studio. This is a powerful and expensive program, which is really good. There are alternatives available, including at least one free alternative.
Find a quiet room, plug in your microphone and record your training course. I use a headset/boom microphone - you can pick these up for a few dollars. Explain every step you take, as if you were showing a friend how to use the software.
I recommend that you record in five minute segments, because video is difficult to scan. If your students want to find the part where you show a specific technique, it's much easier if they can find out which 5-minute video it's in (from the annotations you'll include with each video) than having to scan through an entire 60 minute video course.
Breaking it down into short segments also makes it quicker and easier to re-do a section if you make a complete mess of it. Don't worry too much about fluffs and mistakes - they show that you're human.
Once you've recorded your video course, you'll need to upload it to your hosting account, then create a couple of web pages to sell it and allow people to watch it or download it. This can be as simple or as complicated as you make it. Once you have everything in place you can go ahead and start promoting it.
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