Most likely – a lot of people. The secret to the success of most marketers is that they know and believe that their expertise is a valuable commodity – but only if it is communicated and shared. If you own a business or sell a product or service, then you are a marketer. And I’ll bet what you know about your business could fill a few volumes – how well are you capitalizing on your knowledge commodity?

The widget of the 21st Century is information. Your knowledge about a particular topic is valuable, sought-after and sell-able. And we all have knowledge of something. And there are fringe benefits from producing information products, such as the ones I am about to describe. Such products can raise your professional profile, position you as a thought-leader in your field, open up new streams of revenues such as speaking engagements and seminars, and put you at the top-of-mind for anyone seeking information about your product or service.

Information Product Types

There are endless ways to share and profit from your expertise. These are a few of them, ones that you can most likely produce yourself or with just a bit of outside help. The idea is to capitalize on your knowledge and keep production/distribution costs of this information to a minimum (at least until you hit it big).

Blog:

For some reason the idea of a blog intimidates some people – mainly because there is pressure to post often. Yes, that can be challenging, but with some planning it can also be enjoyable and quite easy.

First, decided on the purpose/direction for your blog. What problem is your blog going to solve for your readers? Is it a product information blog; a “how to” blog; a help guide blog; a “tricks of the trade” blog, etc. Write this purpose down in big letter and post it to your computer screen. It is vital to stay on topic with your blog. If you stray, you’ll lose your audience.

Second, make a list of 10 topics you can write short yet informative posts about. Mark your calendar on say, every Monday of the month. Each Monday, you’ll make a new list of 10 additional topics you can write about.  Also on every Monday, you’ll write 2-3 short blog posts based on the topics you’ve written down. Post one to the blog immediately, then use the scheduling option to schedule the others to post on Wednesday and on Friday. By end of day Monday, you’re done with your blog for the week! Of course you can always post more if some vital information comes to mind that you must share with your readers right away!

Remember to stay professional with your blog writing. Readers are looking to you for important and relevant information, don’t stray and try not to write about personal stuff. Its OK to mention somethings about yourself in your posts, but keep it to a minimum. Your blog will most likely have an “about me” page – that’s where you can write about yourself.

How do you profit from a blog? There are several ways including affiliate links and Google ads. But the blog is more of a way to prove that you’ve got the goods people want – establishing your expertise and growing an audience for your knowledge. Its a jumping off point for your selling your other information products. The next information product type, the newsletter, is similar.

Newsletter:

Newsletters are easy to produce and manage, especially if you use an email management service such as Constant Contact (disclosure: I use Constant Contact ). The important thing to remember about newsletters is that you must be consistent. If you promise to deliver a newsletter once per month, do so. All you really have to do in your newsletter is reference some of your most stellar blog posts and provide links back to your blog. Newsletters reinforce your position as a thought-leader, drive readers to your blog and advertise your other information products. You can also monetize your newsletter with affiliate links – but be careful about becoming too commercial. If your newsletter starts looking like the Sunday paper with nothing but ads, you’ll lose readers quick.

Whitepaper:

Ok, so what is a white paper really? A little history – white papers started out being technical documents where scientific types could explain their theories, mostly to get funding for this or that project. Nowadays, white papers are used to explain just about anything from why you need a blog to product comparisons to treatise on fostering peace in the world. Any document that fleshes out a particular idea for a specific audience is a white paper. They are created to solve a particular problem or give instruction on a particular process, idea, product.

White papers can be very influential in helping a client or prospect make a final decision about a product or service. However, a white paper is NOT a sales document and it should not be written from a sales point of views. It is an information document, meant to educate and persuade.

White papers are highly valuable documents. They are not cheap to produce and you really need to find an excellent writer and/or editor. You’ll also want to hire a graphic designer to help with layout and look. White papers should appeal to the eye to grab potential readers. But once you have a well-thought-out, well-written white paper – you can offer it for sale. Of course many people give white papers away in return for the clout it creates for them. So it all depends what is more valuable to you – a few dollars or upping your influence level. There’s no right answer, it really depends on the topic of the paper, the audience and the value of the information within. If you think there is a market, then by all means put a price tag on the thing.

Ebook:

Ebooks are well, books that can be downloaded by your customer or prospects. The ebooks we’re talking about here should not be confused with electronic versions of print books (such as the kind you download to your Kindle® or Sony Reader®).

Ebooks are written only for download and not for print (however, they can be coupled with other ebooks to create a print volume, which is another product for you to sell). Ebooks are very similar to print books except they are usually much shorter. They are also very similar to white papers because they target a specific audience, a specific topic and/or a specific problem, except ebooks are usually a bit longer than white papers. Another difference is that ebooks can be used as a preview to a printed book and to promote a specific company or tool.

Again you’ll want to engage an experienced writer/editor, as well as a graphic designer, for creating your ebook. Ebooks are a great way to add to your resume of expertise. Many ebooks sell online for hundreds of dollars, depending on the topic and depth of information provided.

The Key to All Tools Above

There is one characteristic that must prevail when using any or all of the tools mentioned above: Be Relevant.

It is imperative to stay focused on your topic and deliver on any promises you make. If you say this document will solve a problem – solve it! If you say you’re giving inside information  – give it! Don’t tease, lie or beat around the bush. Make sure your document is written clearly and concisely yet in an interesting an engaging manner.

All of these tools will go a long way in promoting yourself as an expert in your field. After all, who cares what you think? Lots of people, I’ll bet.