I teach people how to create and sell information products.  One of the questions I often get in my line of work is, “What if there is something else out there that is free? Is it worth my time to try to write my own ebook or information product on the topic?”

My answer to this question is that I think this is a very encouraging sign, especially if the free material only hits the highlights and does not go into much detail.  Somebody has thought enough of your topic to put some free stuff out there, which means that your topic is one of interest.

Remember, there are some topics where you could find all of the information you could ever need out there for free.  However, it would take a good deal of time hunting and searching to find everything and piece it all together.  Remember, people pay for convenience. It is much more convenient to be able to find everything they need from one source. People are inherently lazy and do not want to go to a bunch of different websites and compile their information.  They want instant gratification.

People pay for convenience. They also pay for wisdom and for reliable details, because they do not know the good stuff from the bad and they do not have time to figure this out on their own. If you can find a lot of good stuff and put it in one place, they are going to pay you for your wisdom.

Hopefully, you have started out by offering a free mini-course, so you have a base of customers before you start selling your ebook.  These customers trust you, they liked your mini-course; they are going to pay you. We all know that people value what they pay for. Dollars equal value. People are more likely to pay someone who can synthesize the information they are looking for rather than do a bunch of research on their own, even if it is free.

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about Stephen Beck
Stephen Beck teaches families how to start your own coaching business. Go grab Stephen's 3 free videos at http://www.8weekstoprofits.com so families can begin today.

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