INFOPRENEUR: Make Money Online in the Information Age

The Information Age

We know you’ve heard the phrase that “we live in the information age.” And why is this? Because all of the information we could ever want to know is at our fingertips—just a keyboard or smart phone away.

Think about it. Today around 30% of the world population has smartphones with internet access. By 2020 it’s predicted to be as much as 70%. Your cell phone now contains a number of sources of information or utility that you once could only access by other means. The smartphone has replaced your GPS, your HD video camera, your CD music library, your MP3 player, and even the need to read an encyclopedia, buy a book or go to the library.

So, who CREATES all of this information that’s so readily available through our electronic devices? You guessed it: infopreneurs.

What is an Infopreneur?

The role of a content creator or educator has changed and grown with access to technology. Technology allows more people to access information and for them to acquire it faster. Infopreneurs used to sell their information and products as audio tapes, print books, CD’s, DVD’s or through talk shows, seminars, and conferences. In today’s world, infopreneurs sell their products as eBooks, video, blogs, emails, and webinars, just to name a few.

Today, an infopreneur is a person who has specific knowledge on a topic and packages that information into an information product and then sells it on the internet. There are generally two kinds of infopreneurs. First those that sell information from their own expertise they have acquired or research that they have amassed. The second is those earning commission selling and marketing other peoples information products.

The Information Industry

Technology causes the perfect storm for an exploding information industry: exponential growth in the ease of access to information, exponential increase in the amount of information accessible, and exponential ease of creation and distribution of this information.

According to the experts, the information products market will continue to increase exponentially in the coming years, as more people gain access to the internet all over the world.

Even knowing that, many people ask, “if information is so widely available, why would anyone pay for it?” Several reasons:

Not all information that exists is currently available.
Information that is well presented and organized is more valuable than free content.
Information that is easy to access and offers a shortcut is more valuable than free content.
Your unique how-to process, talent, skill or collection of knowledge and experience is more valuable than free content.
Having a teacher to guide you through the process of learning is more valuable than free content.

For these reasons, you can become an infopreneur and build a business around what you already know.

Who Can Be an Infopreneur?

Literally anyone can be an infopreneur. Seriously. In order to be a good candidate for becoming an infopreneur you have to fit into at least one of the following categories:

Have expertise (knowledge, experience or wisdom) in a particular industry, business, career or hobby. There is a HUGE misunderstanding here… and that is that in order to be an expert you have to BE THE BEST—you have to have 20 years of experience and an advanced degree. WRONG. No matter how much you know, you know more than SOMEONE. To a 65-year-old business executive, a 10 year old YouTuber is an expert on using a smartphone, a video game, or even a computer. If you have something of valuable to teach someone that they don’t already know, you’re an expert. Here’s your hat, put it on.

Have a talent or skill that you can teach others that would offer them a shortcut to a higher level of skill. Many people think they can only make money if they teach high value knowledge, like how to raise capital for businesses or how manage change in a fortune 500 company. However, there are infopreneurs making hundreds of thousands of dollars a year sharing their passion with everyday people who want to learn about baking bread, playing an instrument, making smoothies, knitting, or who want to learn technical skills.

Have the solution to someone else’s problem. Whether you learned it the hard way or you learned it from someone else, people are always looking for a solution to their problems. In the high-speed world of technology everyone wants to do everything faster, bigger and better too, so you don’t even have to solve life’s major challenges, you can provide a tool for a slight enhancement and still be successful. The solution you offer could be anything from how to use their smartphone to effective parenting strategies or from how to put on makeup to how to decorate a cake or organize your home.

Have a process that you have learned, improved, created or used and would help others achieve a desired outcome or goal. Like the how-to’s mentioned above when talking about solving problems, a process is simply a proven step-by-step process that you’ve found to be effective that someone else could learn, use, and duplicate your results. Your process can be anything from how to increase your productivity to how to start a business or from how to lose weight to how to write a resume.

Truly ANYTHING you know that others do not can be made into an information product.

The only other requirement is that you have to be WILLING TO LEARN and WILLING TO TEACH.

Become an Infopreneur and Create an Online Course!