A few months back I got in touch with professional Infopreneur Brandon Yeager and have since stayed in touch. I recently interviewed Brandon on what he does, how he got into Infopreneurship and how someone can replicate his success whether they are working full time, part time or not at all.
Infopreneurship is a topic that is very close to me. If you have been a long time reader, you know that I have several e-books and audio books floating in Cyberspace that are all generating passive and residual income for me.
An Infopreneur is someone who converts what they know (their knowledge, expertise, experience, passion) into a product or service for sale. Simplistically, it’s someone who sells information. Authors are a good example of professional Infopreneurs.
I like this entrepreneurial avenue because anyone can do it, as you will further read in my interview with Brandon. In fact, I firmly believe that each one of us has at least one good book inside us. With the advent of the Internet and turn key tools we have at our disposal today, publishing and distributing information has never been easier and more profitable.
I hope you enjoy this interview and find it helpful if Infopreneurship sounds like your cup of tea. I say why not? It’s one of the easiest and most turn key forms of entrepreneurship and you can get right in it now!
Interview notes with Brandon Yeager:
Sunil, thanks for allowing me to share my passion with your audience. I hope they find some golden nuggets here that can help them start making more money.
A little background: I spent about 10 years working as an Electrical Engineer before getting kicked out of the rat race on July 5th, 2005. Walked into work after 4th of July Holiday and became an instant casualty of corporate america.
Fortunately, I had been flipping some houses along the way, and ended up diving head first into being a full time real estate investor. We ended up doing over 100 houses, and along the way, people began to ask me how I was making money at it. So, I held a 3 hour long seminar on a Saturday morning.
Had 15 people pay me $99 for information in my head…that’s nearly $1,500 for 3 hours of work. I was hooked on Information Marketing from that moment on. Today, I help people take the information they have in their brains, and convert that into cash flow.
Right now, primarily selling my information products. But, I’m going to be ramping up my email marketing quite a bit in the future, and am also getting ready to start a large Internet Marketing Networking group for Pittsburgh, PA folks.
Man, this is a tough one for me because I’ve just recently started to see the fruits of my labor. I’ll put it this way…6 months ago I was struggling to find my way to making money online. Today, I stare at a Paypal deposit for $297 from somebody who just bought my latest course…TheInfoPreneur Academy.
The Information Marketing niche is so big, and so vast, I can’t even put a figure as to how much somebody could make with it. Seriously, I know guys making $100,000 in a single night on webinars selling information products. I think that would work for me. 🙂
Here’s something to think about…there is not a get rich quick scheme that works…unless you are into drug-dealing and prostitution, and neither of those have great long-term outlooks in life. Hah! It all takes work, and I spun my wheels chasing many shiny objects in the online world, before I finally came back to my roots, which is finding my passion, and pursuing it, and sharing my message with the world.
A lot of it also niche dependent. But niches can be created out of thin air also. I know a chiropractor who has been in business for 30 years. He meets regularly with a large group of other successful chiropractors in the Pittsburgh region.
He aspires to get about 10 of those folks together, record a 1 hour interview with them, and create a package than can be sold to newly graduating chiropractors for $497. Think about it.
Would a newly graduating chiropractor be willing to listen to 10 hours of successful business owners talk about how they can get started making money quickly, and easily, and avoid many of the pitfalls they have experienced along the way? ABSOLUTELY.
Or, here is another example. If some recently divorced mother just learned the ropes of how to slash her attorney divorce fees, keep her children, and come out better than before through divorce proceedings, do you think she could sell a 2 hour disk set for $97?
ABSOLUTELY. Matter of fact, she could probably become a highly paid consultant for $20,000 a pop to celebrities if she positioned herself properly, and marked herself to the right clientele.
The Information Marketing business…has infinite possibilities for scaling. Infinite. It’s just like when I graduated from Engineering school…I thought…ok, what can I get into as an Electrical Engineer? Then you find out that there are like 5,000 sub-niches of electrical engineering expertise in the world.
The same holds true for information marketing. You can self-publish books, hold webinars, sell physical products, be a coach, do weekend seminars, sell ebooks . . . the sky is the limit. The best part…who cares about Google changing their algorithms and SEO! They don’t really matter in this sub-niche of Internet Marketing.
Right now…I’m definitely in “active” mode…but that’s cool. Because it has such a huge upside to passive that it’s mind boggling. However, when an entrepreneur is doing what they love…work and play really blend together. Their “living” is their “loving”.
Absolutely. Look, understand that people in this world all need problems solved. Everyone needs information to take them to the next level, to help them solve problems, to help them experience success. Yeah, it might take some long nights of drinking pots of coffee (I never said it’s easy), but if you are dedicated and have the passion behind you….you cannot fail.
This is a reason I’m so big into passion driving whatever business you choose. Without the passion, and the drive, inevitably you run out of steam. Your dreams fade when daylight arises in the morning…and you are right back to the daily grind. You need to know you can and will succeed. It’s the ONLY option.
Well, here’s exactly what I recommend in my course. Pick your passion or niche. Make sure it’s one that is in demand. Find out of if there are groups of people online talking about it. If so, then create a low end product to get something out there.
It’s better “done” than “perfect”. Then package it for delivery…either via a website, membership site, physical CD, or book, etc. Then start using the magic of promoting, positioning, and partnering to bring it to the world.
Top 3 Pros: Scalable, Work from Anywhere, Minimal Business Startup Costs
Top 3 Cons: It can sometimes be lonely, Airport cancellations suck, and it may take you some time to get things clicking.
Absolutely number one is interviewing other people in my niche. I’ve forged amazing relationships reaching out and networking with other people, who were higher up the totem pole than myself.
Number two, have a funnel. Drive traffic to free/low tier offers and then if they want more of what you have to offer…they’ll buy.
Number three…raise your prices. When I went from thinking I was worth $25/hour to knowing I was worth $250/hour, things began to change. It is what allowed me to go from selling $29 ebooks, to $297 training programs.
Now, in my mind…making $2,000 on one sale…isn’t that unrealistic anymore. And, I actually plan on starting toward that end in the near future as well. So…raise your prices…and tell yourself you are worth more…because you are. You just may not believe it yet. 😉
Hmmm…I’d say…if you don’t know how to build a WordPress site, either learn how to, or figure out who to outsource it to. Then, begin your quest into the information marketing world. It’s vast, and the payouts are big. Thirdly, never stop learning.
Always be willing to invest in programs that can slash your learning curve. One thing that you learn from somebody can easily be worth $5,000 in this business. Easily.
Great question. I’m definitely a small-town country boy. I grew up living outside of a small town of 500 people. I had 69 kids in my graduating high school class. Have lived in the woods all my life. I enjoy fishing, camping, hiking, hunting, and running.
Regarding the work balance…I’ll say this. I have 4 children, and an awesome wife, and it can be tough at times. Everybody wants a little piece of you sometimes, but as long as you focus on that passion, again, and know that somebody out there needs your information right now, it helps ease that strain a little bit.
Somebody is hurting. Let’s even look at this interview. I’m typing…I could be spending it with my family, but I hope that something here may strike a chord with one of your readers, and propel them onward to achieving greater things in their life, than maybe they ever even imagined before. That is what keeps me going.
You see, I had…well, I wouldn’t call it a mid-life crisis…I’d call it a mid-life reconciliation at the end of 2010. I realized that, if all goes well, my life is ½ way over. And I ask myself: Have I helped the people I wanted to help? Nope.
Have I impacted as many lives as I’ve wanted to? Nope. Have I left a mark on millions of people, to the point, that when I pass away, they are going to miss me? I’m working on it. 🙂
Life is short. Create your dreams, and then start charting out your plan as to how you are going to get there.
Sunil, you ask GREAT questions for your interviews. I’ve enjoyed taking the time to put these answers together, and I wish you, and your readers that all of your dreams may come true. Live life to the fullest. I’m not sure if any of you will ever come across my words again, but it’s my hope something may have helped you, and I hope that it helps to make your life better.
Brandon Yeager blogs at TheInfoPreneur.net. He has the most amazing interview ever created on how to make money with webinars. You can get the FREE 1 Hour Interview and transcript by clicking here. If you have any interest in elevating your game and shaving years from your learning curve, check out TheInfoPreneur Academy. It is the proven system that shows you step by step, how to create abundance by sharing your passions and knowledge with the world, in 60 days.
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Sunil and Brandon,
GREAT Interview! I released my first information product that’s doing pretty well and am about to put together 2 more. It’s definitely a more sustainable business model than promoting other people’s products. Working 7 days a week to reach 6-figuredom in the next year. Keep inspiring guys!
Good Vibes~
Vic
All the best Vic – Please keep us posted of your successes!
Hey Vic,
Great job on getting the first one out…that’s the hardest. Now, depending upon how you have your funnel setup, start getting traffic to it. build your list, and just start solving problems by creating offers. 😉
you’re on the right track!
Thanks for commenting,
Brandon Yeager
Brandon – in your experience, what are the top 2 funnels that have proven most successful? What are some effective traffic generation strategies for each?
Hi Sunil,
right now, I’m using a freebie optin for my funnels, leading to a OTO. Here is a scenario for a new funnel I should have ready to go tomorrow:
1) freebie with a facebook like button…if they say no…pop up to freebie with email optin.
2) once they are into funnel…OTO of $27. Downsell to $17. If they say yes…Upsell to a high end product. If they say no…downsell to downgrade version. Then, offer a 3rd lower end product of $17.
I’m also thinking about throwing a membership site with a $1 14 day trial into the mix to see how that works.
All, i can say…is split test everything. You really need to know your numbers.
Effective traffic generation techniques:
– partners
– guest blogging
– buying ads on sites
– er, uh, did I say partners? 🙂
Take care,
Brandon
excellent summary. seems like lots of business logic (If/then rules) required in the programming. I am assuming you outsource this component?
I like the Facebook strategy – as it is free. each time someone “likes” it, it spreads your exposure to a whole different set of people. can you provide a link to both your Facebook and regular squeeze page here? I am sure we would all love to have a look to see the practical appliction of these strategies