Step One. Just answer a simple question - What problems does your customer or prospect have that they need answers to?

Step Two. The next question to ask yourself is - What information can you offer to help them solve their problem?

Step Three. Ask yourself, what information do you already have that addresses this problem? Chances are you may have already written articles or reports on the subject. Should you already have, these can be compiled into a information product.

If you don't have any information already written on the subject, ask yourself who you know who could speak intelligently on the subject? Often times an expert interview can be used to create a fantastic information product. Record the interview, have it transcribed and hire a writer to edit and smooth out the rough patches and you have an information product ready to go.

Take the Jack Canfield & Mark Victor Hansen approach and have others write the product for you. The ever popular Chicken Soup for the Soul series of books are created by multiple authors and compiled into a comprehensive book with a common theme. Joe Vitale has published several books like this quite successfully. Ask several key figures in your industry to write an article or small report on a subject and put the contributions together into an e-book.

Lastly, if you don't want to write the information product yourself, you can outsource the project. There are many skilled ghostwriters and software developers who can create exactly the product you need.

Step Four. Once the content has been created the next step may be to hire a graphic designer to spiff it up and give it a professional look and feel. Associates may be able to give you a referral for a good graphic designer.

Step Five. Marketing and making money. This is the next phase in information product development and creation. How to distribute the product, how to promote the product, and at what price to charge, are just some of the many decisions that need to be made.

Creating an information product is a great way to both drive business as a part of a marketing funnel or to give away for free as a marketing and list building strategy. The upside is that it doesn't need to take months of hard work writing in your spare time to create a quality information product. There are many innovative and creative avenues to take to offer a valuable information product in short order that still offers tremendous value to your customers.

Copyright (c) 2008 Stephen Malan