Hopefully, you’ve gone through all of the previous lessons because now it’s time to put yourself to the test.
It’s easy to believe that you’re ready to build a $100,000 business but when people see what goes into it, many freak out and leave.
They want it to be easier.
Compared to working in a coal mine all of your life it is a million times easier.
What you’re going to do in this section can be very challenging mentally.
I’m not saying this to scare you. I’m saying this because I want you to put in the effort to make this work.
As adults, we very rarely have to use our brains like we did in school so this stuff can come as a shock.
Remember that whole fixed mindset vs growth mindset thing?
Some people have completely forgotten how to think on their own.
This section requires that you do.
You’ll be tested, but when you’re done it will all be worth it.
The goal of this section isn’t necessarily to help you find that ONE idea, but to help you get all of your ideas out there and start narrowing them down.
Throughout the Dream Roadmap you’ll begin to narrow down your options until you have the one that you want to work on.
Make sure you’re ready for this stuff because it’s time to get started.
The Info-Product Business
We are going to simplify the process of finding a business idea by knocking out one of the big criteria and that is making sure that the idea can work as an information product business.
When it comes to making money online there is no better way to do so.
You can argue with me all you want but I’m not trying to hear it.
Having your own products means you control your money.
Having your own products means you don’t have a ceiling to how much you can earn.
Having your own products means that you determine your future.
Before you have a mild panic attack I’m going to tell you right now that you can create an information product that people want to buy.
I wouldn’t have spent all of my time creating this material if that wasn’t the case.
However, before you start going down that road it’s important to understand why we are in the middle of an information product revolution.
It Starts With Communities
At its core, all of this begins with the idea of the community.
Everybody wants to have a feeling of belonging. Not to society in general but to a certain group.
It’s why people become so invested in things that you might find odd.
Adults that still play Magic: The Gathering might seem odd to someone that doesn’t understand the game, but for those that love it and still play it, they understand it’s more than the game.
It’s the feeling of having something in common with other people that they understand.
When people find that, they don’t let go.
So what does this have to do with information products?
Well, when people become part of a community they want to get to better at whatever the community has in common.
Hint: remember the transformational business?
If you’re in a knitting club you understand that at the beginning you won’t be the best one there but you don’t want to be the worst one still after 10 years.
So what do you do?
Find somewhere that will teach you to be better.
Wake Up, Be Better
We all wake up wanting to be better.
Hint: Remember the transformational business?
Hint hint: Remember that people only buy improvement?
It’s not a fun life if you think about how you’re worse this week than you were last week. It means you’re not progressing.
It means you’re not getting the most out of life.
New Year’s resolutions aren’t made because they are a tradition. People genuinely want to improve.
This might come as a shock to you but school rarely helps us improve the way we want to as adults.
But thankfully, this thing called the Internet has completely changed the game.
With the Internet, you can learn basically anything which means you can get better at anything.
Hint: Remember the transformational business?
Hint hint: Remember that people only buy improvement?
Before the 2000s it was crazy to think that you could learn to start a business and grow it to $100,000+.
People who thought like that grew up in an environment where that kind of thinking persisted.
I didn’t grow up in such an environment and because of that I never even considered starting my own business.
For me, it was going to college, getting a job, staying at the job, and then dying.
When I started to see other people making money with their online businesses (my community) I knew that I wanted to do the same.
When I found people designing beautiful aquariums (my community) I knew that I wanted to do the same.
When I found people creating awesome YouTube videos (my community) I knew that I wanted to do the same.
Each time this has happened I’ve purchased information products in the hopes that they would fast forward me to the point I want to be.
The reason I bought these products is that I wanted to feel like I was better today than I was yesterday.
Hint: remember the transformational business?
Hint hint: Remember that people only buy improvement?
I also bought them because I like shortcuts.
Everything Can Be Found Online
One of the arguments against having a business based on information products is that everything can be found online for free.
This is generally true. YouTube is a ridiculous resource when it comes to learning things.
However, the problem with trying to piece together free resources for your education is that you have to know what you need to piece together.
And it takes time.
Creating an information product is similar to being a research assistant. You’re collecting a lot of information and putting it in a logical order within a digestible package that people can consume.
You can spend years on YouTube trying to find the right people to teach you the right things after you figure out what those right things are or you could pay someone (hi) to put all of that together for you.
Will there be people that will still say they can find everything online for free?
Yep.
You aren’t going to sell to those people.
You want the people who don’t have time to find all of that info on their own.
And this is why you’re going to make money.
So criteria number 1 is going to be that your idea needs to be viable for information products.
Can you name me a thousand other businesses that make good money without information products? Yes.
But then I’d have to teach you a thousand different methods for success.
That seems like a pain in the ass.
If you really aren’t sure about this information product thing then just know that the e-learning industry is set to be a $325 BILLION industry in a couple of years.
There is a reason why we talked about building out an MVO first.
The goal is to find success quickly.
However, “quickly” could mean 1 month or 18 months. That much is going to depend on you and it’s also a big reason why The Offer Map even exists so you don’t have to waste time hoping to find the right idea.
However, if you aren’t even sure what niche you want to create an offer in then let’s try to figure that out first.