If there was any doubt about infopreneurship being a hyped-up, temporary trend, 2022 proved that infopreneurs are here to stay. Most infopreneur examples prove that the money you can make from infopreneurship is pretty impressive, considering that it takes less effort and constant attention. Of course, there are a lot of misunderstandings about just what infopreneurs are and do and that can stop some people from even attempting it. That’s why I start this guide on how to become an infopreneur with the infopreneur definition, what it is and what it is not. Of course, you can skip ahead to the heart of the problem and read all about how to become an infopreneur right from the start.
Infopreneur Definition:
The word “Infopreneur” is a new invention, combining the words ‘Information’ and ‘entrepreneur’, meaning an entrepreneur who sells information. So, perhaps the most obvious infopreneur definition is its difference from entrepreneurs. While entrepreneurs make money by creating a new business based on an idea or expertise, infopreneurs make money by directly selling that expertise and knowledge. You may think that’s just a fancy way of saying they’re teachers but as you’ll see here, that’s far from the actual facts on the ground. The people who do know about infopreneurs and want to start their own infopreneur businesses often have extremely contrasting views on infopreneurship, which can lead to a wrong approach to the whole thing.
Extreme Ideas about Infopreneurship
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Forget it! There’s just too much competition in it.
Ask around about infopreneur definition and how to become an infopreneur and you’ll definitely hear more than a few people telling you: “What do you have to offer when there are so many bloggers and Youtubers posting 24/7 on every little thing imaginable? There is simply no easy way to break into the infopreneurship market.” They tend to think every online information market is saturated by now. So, instead of being excited about the vast possibilities the internet offers the smart infopreneur, they allow themselves to be intimidated by its vast scale.
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It’s the easiest thing in the world!
The other group will say: “I know someone who makes tons of money by teaching skating on Youtube. How hard can it be? It’s not like the guy is a genius.” These people underestimate the fierce competition for viewership on the internet. More importantly, if you don’t have the passion to teach a certain topic and you are only in it for money, your chances of success are not that high.
Obviously, the truth is somewhere in the middle. Competition among infopreneurs is severe but the demand is also extremely high. The average person in the industrial world seeks answers online almost every day. Luckily, you don’t have to be the greatest in a specific field to be able to make loads of money from your expertise. For instance, the most famous guitar teacher on Youtube is certainly not the most skillful guitarist on the face of the earth. But how did he manage to stand out in such a huge crowd? Unfortunately, there is not one correct formula for that, and success in Infopreneurship could be the result of many different variables. However, our tips can be a good starting point to help you start your information business.
What does an Infopreneur Do?
The word ‘Infopreneur’ was first used in a book named “Infopreneurs: Turning Data Into Dollars” by Harold Weitzen in 1988. Ironically internet was at its earliest stages back then. Anyway, no matter what name we give to selling information, the practice is probably as old as the human race. “Give me your stick and I’ll tell you where to find a mammoth!”, said the infopreneur caveman.
Of course, our focus here is on digital information and the thing that makes our times unique is that infopreneurs can potentially have millions of viewers and make their content accessible to billions by clicking a button. Infopreneurship can take many forms: teaching, consulting, or simply providing the information to read or view. You also have a wide range of mediums to choose from: blog posts, ebooks, training manuals, online courses, podcasts, videos, infographics, webinars, etc.
What are the Advantages of Being an Infopreneur?
- Anybody who has some useful knowledge or expertise can try their luck at becoming a successful infopreneur. You are not required to have any teaching licenses or academic degrees — you just need to learn how to become an entrepreneur.
- You are the one and the only boss there is. You have full control over the path you want to take. Now, how many people do you personally know who wish they didn’t have a boss?
- You can start as a side job and only switch to full-time if you reach success. This way you are not risking your primary job. Also, the time allocated to developing your business completely depends on you.
- You have yourself a passive income. Once your information package is ready to be downloaded or viewed, you could just sit back and enjoy the money falling on your lap. It’s called multiplying your time. Imagine you are a regular English teacher. Every time you teach a student of yours, you earn money and you can’t work for more than a certain number of hours each month. But if you are offering downloadable English courses, then there is no limit to how many times you can sell during a month. Likewise, you are generating a lot more value.
- Do you have a laptop or a mobile phone and an internet connection? Well, then you have all that it takes to start your journey as an infopreneur. Can you think of a business that involves less risk? If you don’t make it, you have lost very little. But if you do, your ROI will be second to none.
Do Infopreneurs Create Original Content?
We get this question all the time. Do I need to be original? To sell information, you don’t have to be 100% original; in fact, only a tiny proportion of information online is original. So, as long as you are not just copying content from others it should be fine. But as mentioned already, in order to have a large audience, you need to have a distinct quality to stand out. Consider the following options.
- While creating original content is very difficult, there is probably still a lot of unexplored room for new styles of presentation. So in a way you are aiming at novelty rather than originality. For instance, if Youtube is your medium of choice then your presentation needs to be funny, lively, simple, and concise in a way that is also somewhat unique. Find a creative way to establish your own signature. You might say, well what does it mean to have a signature when writing a school chemistry book? Anything that sets you apart; how about applying kawaii to your illustrations?!
- If possible, find a new approach or viewpoint. If any part of your content is new, make sure you emphasize it in your marketing and even mention it as you present the information. This marketing strategy is often called the ‘unique selling proposition’.
- Perhaps the most viable option is to find your niche and become an authority in it. Find a narrowed-down and specialized subject. For instance, there are numerous people who teach trading cryptocurrency online, but is it possible to focus on only one or two cryptocurrencies?
Your niche can also be targeting certain demographics. There is certainly less competition in online painting courses for children under 5 than there is in painting in general. You might as well want to target a certain skill level. Many people struggle with the very basics of computer programming and give up early on. Can they have a second chance with your special courses designed for them? Why not even take things a step further and prepare special packages for people with certain learning disabilities? Of course, you need professional assistance to prepare the last option.
How to Become an Infopreneur: 4 Tips to Start Your Infopreneur Business Today
There are too many ways you could make money from selling information online. In fact, answering the question of how to become an infopreneur is basically answering this one: how can you provide people with information in a way that answers their questions or teaches them valuable content? The most common mediums to communicate through are blog posts, online courses, podcasts, ebooks, YouTube videos, etc. Your style of presenting the information should be in line with your medium. Once your information is ready to upload, make a business plan and devise strategies that draw your target audience to your website.
An Infopreneur Needs a Website
We recommend that you treat your social media page or Youtube channel like a display window of a store; ultimately your customers need to visit your website to make a purchase. You cannot run an information business without a website. Remember you are not aiming to be a social media influencer; you are aiming to be a well-established infopreneur with an official website. If you are looking for a secure and free option to create your website, you might want to give WordPress a try. It is known for being user-friendly and highly customizable.
Don’t Forget about Content and SEO
Creating blog posts is an excellent way to generate traffic and subscribers. Blog posts are especially suitable if your product is an ebook or a set of educational packages. Now, I don’t have to remind you that without applying SEO to your website you won’t get much traffic via search engines. Unless of course, your traffic comes through social media. Make attractive lead magnets and use email marketing to grow your audience. Send your leads newsletters containing offers, discounts, and the new content available.
Many people start by offering valuable free information and once they have a solid loyal audience, they eventually monetize some of the information on the website as ‘premium content’ or ‘members access only’. Of course, you should continue to create free content to retain your audience. Having a somewhat big and loyal audience takes time, but once it takes off you will have a steady and passive income.
Social Media is a Must
Make sure your social media pages keep your followers updated on the above information as well. Which social media platforms best suit your marketing campaign depends on the type of information you provide and your buyer persona(s). Where do you think your target audience prefers to spend their time? If your information packages are more visual, Youtube, Instagram, and Pinterest are logical choices. If you offer ebooks, then maybe try Twitter and I don’t need to mention that Facebook is a must.
Try One-To-One Instruction
Depending on what kind of information you are offering, you can also consider one-to-one instruction with some of your audience members. We understand this strategy is not financially efficient, but it is only a temporary strategy for the early stages of your business. Think of it as laying the groundwork for your future success. When you first start, you are probably not ready to monetize your information yet and personal contact with your viewers can help build up that loyal audience we discussed earlier.
We will discuss more marketing strategies later in the article, but one thing that is key to the success of your whole project is branding.
How to Brand Yourself as an Infopreneur
What does Branding Do for an Infopreneur?
Branding is a very complex process and requires an extended article of its own, but we’ll try to discuss a few tips to help you get started. Your main objective is to find a way to project the image of an authority in your field of knowledge. It is also helpful if you convey and emphasize unique features about yourself. We are living in the information age and as an infopreneur, if you cannot impress your customers, prospects, and sponsors, success is out of your reach; it’s as simple and ruthless as that.
Branding is not something that you accomplish once and for all and then move on with the rest of your project. As an infopreneur, you have to constantly monitor the perceived image that you communicate and keep it on the right track. However, it is better to devise a complete framework of all the details of your brand before your launch your project. This is because consistency is a core and necessary element of branding. If you tweak your brand too often, you have failed to develop a signature and risk being perceived as ingenuine and unreliable.
Where do I Start with Branding?
Before you start, search your full name on a clean browser cache on google. Make sure there isn’t any unwanted information about you. Get rid of any trace of information not in line with your infopreneur brand. A good way to start your branding is to identify your competitors and study how they brand themselves. What are their strengths and weaknesses? Read their viewers’ comments and find clues as to what your target audience may expect from you. What form should your presentation take? Is it helpful if you look more intellectual and academic? How about more hipster and artistic? Funny or serious? Informal or formal? Progressive or conservative? Is there more focus on your information looking sophisticated and accurate or simple and fun to learn? Will you use a nickname, full name, or stage name? The answer to most of such questions lies in the kind of prospects you are targeting. Whatever your decision, make it clear and consistent.
Your Infopreneur persona can be close to your real self
Having said all that, if you only focus on what personas are cool and popular or what kind of brands sell the most, you could run into a lot of difficulties down the road. The truth is you probably shouldn’t build an image that is very far from who you are, for it may be too hard to convey as genuine. This is especially true if your medium of information is video. There is only so much acting you can pull off. You have to balance your true identity and the persona you wish to present. Chances are that you already are very good at attracting certain types of people. What are the features that make you charming and how can you integrate them into your brand? Ask people that know you very well to help you pinpoint your strengths.
Once you decide on different dimensions of your brand, apply it to everything, meaning your email, biography, website layout, logo, ebook cover, clothing, tone, posture, gestures, style of language, etc. Once again, we cannot emphasize how important it is to be consistent. For more information read our article on how to strengthen your small business brand identity.
What are some Common Infopreneur Examples?
Online tutor or teacher
When you start talking about infopreneurship with people, this is probably one of the first things that come to their minds. The obvious advantage is that you don’t have a boss and there is no need to explain your teaching methods to anybody. Your subject determines whether teaching to a single or more students at a time is more appropriate. Most skill-based subjects are taught one-to-one, while knowledge-based subjects can be taught either one-to-one or to multiple students. Try different e-learning platforms before you find your perfect choice. Remember to create a suitable contract and set up a secure payment system. To attract more students, why not offer the first session for free?
Online course creator
You are doing a similar task to the previous type of infopreneur except here you create all the teaching material in advance and upload it on your website. Then you can charge customers for downloading your files. Videos are a preferable medium; but they can be supplemented by audio files, worksheets, or workbooks. Leave your email address on your website and answer the questions of your customers. This will also allow you to know where the ambiguities and shortcomings in your online courses are. Improve the quality of your courses as you gain more feedback.
Blogger
Find a niche in your area of expertise and write articles that provide useful information for your traffic. You can consult an SEO expert to find out which areas of your expertise are less saturated. An SEO expert will tell you how much demand there is for a certain niche and you can compare it against the number of websites that are supplying such information. We’ll discuss monetization methods later in the article.
Youtuber
Create a Youtube channel and make regular educational videos. Just as blogging, you should increase the probability of your success by finding a niche that is not overly saturated. Use the comments to improve your videos. The “Crash Course” Youtube channel by the Green brothers is a very good example of how a channel can be both entertaining and educational. The brothers have a unique format for presenting videos which they have stuck with. Their animations are simple but engaging and their logo is easy to remember. As we mentioned earlier, consistency is key; you should look for ways to create your own signature.
Podcaster
Create captivating audio files for people who wish to learn while commuting, lying down, or cooking. Making use of your time in daily situations via podcasts has become increasingly trendy. Podcast hosts often invite guests to make their content easier to follow. Guests are also a golden opportunity to achieve fame more quickly; so chose your guests carefully and wisely. You will have to start by offering free podcasts. Once you have enough listeners, you will be able to make money through ads, membership, or downloads. At that point, you can offer parts of your podcasts for free and only allow paying members exclusive access to the full versions.
Other infopreneur examples include webinar hosts, e-book writers, Facebook content writers, consultants, etc.
Marketing Strategies for Infopreneurs
We have already mentioned email and social media marketing; now let’s discuss other marketing strategies.
Forums
Never underestimate the marketing power of forums. Use them to better understand the trends of the market. Read comments and ask questions to increase your awareness of the things that attract or repel customers. Reddit and Quora are fertile grounds for marketing but you need to be very cautious; referring to your product or service is very tricky. Promoting a small business on forums raises suspicion; it’s best to be as subtle as you can. If you make any direct reference to your product or service, make it look like it comes from a personal experience. Remain neutral in your language and never mention the link to your website. Let them search for themselves if they are curious enough. And lastly, we recommend you not to go around discrediting rivals in forums. You could end up unintentionally boosting their publicity instead.
Partnership Marketing
There are plenty of infopreneurs who are not direct competitors but run closely-related businesses to yours. Can you think of a complementary business? Remember we talked about your niche? There are certainly infopreneurs who work in areas very close to you. They are great partnership opportunities for marketing. For instance, if your niche is teaching writing in English intended for Second-language acquisition, targeted at adults who wish to obtain an IELTS score of 6, then maybe you could collaborate with someone who specializes in teaching other IELTS skills (listening, speaking, and reading). You promote him/her as he/she promotes you. A simple and fair deal. right? Just make sure you prioritize collaborating with businesses that are either superior to you (both in quality and traffic) or at least at your level.
Referral System
To put it simply, you have to get a customer who is satisfied with your service to inform others about your business. This may seem a desperate strategy to adopt but you need to realize that growth develops exponentially if the system is properly executed. Perhaps the best way to go about it is to reward those customers who make referrals. Once the referred ones pay for your service, you can reward your initial customer with discounts or commissions.
Testimonials
Ask those clients of yours who seem to be satisfied with your service to write a few favorable sentences about their experiences. Don’t forget to include their signature and link. There are various places you could publish them. Consider putting them on your sales page to influence potential customers in the most decisive moment. You could also put them on your social media page or newsletters.
Paid Advertising
Perhaps this option is not very popular with a lot of infopreneurs. But if you have just started, getting traffic, finding leads, or raising brand awareness is no walk in the park. Services like AdWords can lend you a hand to take off more easily.
Omnichannel Marketing
Remember we discussed the importance of consistency in branding? The same principle applies to marketing. You have to ensure that your marketing messages are consistent and cohesive throughout all your channels, including your website, social media, newsletters, blogs, etc. This idea is sometimes referred to as Omnichannel marketing.
Monetization/How does an Infopreneur Make Money
You might say, OK fair enough but how do I actually make money? There are many ways that providing quality information can bring you money, but you have to find out what suits your business model best. So for instance, if you have written an ebook, amazon can offer a good deal. If you have educational packages or courses on your website, you can monetize through membership, deals, or downloads. Many creators of online courses also use services like ‘Teachable’. So, you may want to check their offer as well. The following are a few other options.
Affiliate Marketing
If your audience is large enough you could try affiliate marketing. For that, you can contact and cooperate with businesses that are closely related to your product or service. Your job is to promote or advertise them and you will be rewarded in return. It goes without saying that you shouldn’t promote direct competitors.
Usually, you get a commission only if a transaction is executed through the unique link that your viewers clicked; however, you could also find programs that reward you for generating leads, clicks, or downloads. In the case of Youtube, Facebook, and Instagram promotion is very common and you could easily find sponsors if your viewers are large enough.
Pop-up Ads
If you are offered to display pop-up ads on your website, the revenue is easy and substantial. One thing to keep in mind though is to stay away from ads that are completely irrelevant to your business. While relevant ads can even boost the credibility of your website, irrelevant ones might damage the image you have worked so hard to establish.
Final Words
Our ability to connect and communicate with people all around the globe with such ease puts us in a unique position in the history of mankind. Well, how much are you benefitting from all the unprecedented possibilities? Infopreneurship is realizing the titanic potential, finding a novel way to offer knowledge, and making lots of money while helping others.
FAQ
What does an infopreneur mean?
‘Infopreneur’ derives from the words ‘information’ and ‘entrepreneur’. It refers to a person who sells information online.
What are some common infopreneur examples?
Infopreneurship can take various forms. An infopreneur can be an online teacher, a podcaster, a Youtuber, a blogger, a webinar host, an e-book writer, a Facebook content writer, an online consultant, and so on.
How much money do I need to start a career as an infopreneur?
While a small initial investment in marketing can be beneficial, there have been many infopreneurs who have started their career with nothing more than a laptop and an internet connection and have ultimately reached great success.
How does an infopreneur make money?
There are various ways an infopreneur can make money: Online courses can be charged per session, while information packages on websites can be monetized through memberships and downloads. E-books can be sold in similar ways or through services like Amazon. As for YouTubers and podcasters, doing ads and promotions can generate massive income provided their viewership is large enough.
Can I make a lot of money as an infopreneur?
If you already have a job, we recommend you start your infopreneur career as your second job. Just like in other fields, there is a lot of competition but if you show a little perseverance and can find a way to stand out, the result will be satisfying and profitable.