Information Product Creation - Why You Need a Unified Process to Create Courses

Why bother creating a process for information product development? Why would I need such a process? Why would I want to buy a system like that? For that matter, what is it?

And why in heaven's name would I need a unified version of that process?

I'm going to answer that in two pieces.

First off, why do you need a process or system?

The simple answer is that you are going to end up with a process in any case so why not do the best job you can? In order to create anything you need a process. The process is simply a set of tasks which allow you to create the product.

The trick here is that there are two things you need to keep in mind. First is that you need to create a quality product. The second is that although each product is a single unique project, you will be creating these projects time and time again. You'll be repeating them. Creating quality in a repeating process is much easier if you have created a formal process or system. By formalizing your system you are able to document it and analyze it for needed changes and improvements. You are also able to insert specific tasks which are focused on ensuring quality in your finished product.

In short, you're going to end up with a process anyway. So why not use one that you can tweak until it produces the best product it can?

Not only that, but by using a formal process, you can purchase a system to begin with. This system will have already been tested and corrected. You therefore won't be starting from the bottom with a process that needs to be tweaked in order to work at all. This will save you a considerable amount of time and effort.

But why unified?

There are three main reasons. The first is that by identifying all your products at the same you can ensure that you are able to produce the products when they are needed. Frequently, new information marketers will create one or maybe two related products and then try to enter the market. They incorrectly believe that this allows them to test the market. Unfortunately, they typically find that they become swamped with work as they test the market. And instead of the test they initially believed they were performing they are into a market with both feet. As a result they find themselves in a catch up position -- too much work to keep the market going and not enough to prepare the products necessary to maximizing profit.

By producing a map of all the products you will need you can identify what products need to be produced as a minimum before starting the test -- in case the test turns into a black hole of work.

The second reason is that a unified process allows you to use the information from one product to speed up the production of other products. A unified process will include a topic map or an equivalent. This is a map of all the information related to that product line or solution. Detailed designs for the individual products are taken from this map. As a result, less and less research is needed as the number of products increases.

The third and final reason is that the market has changed. Specifically marketing of information products now includes a great deal of free give-away education. This education is used to convince your customers that the main information is worth purchasing. Unfortunately, it needs to be created as well. By using a unified process you can ensure that you don't give away the farm as it were and that you can create these freebies at a minimum cost.

Do you want to learn how to create information products (learning content)? Check out my new free eBook "7 Myths and Seven Tricks in Nine Steps": http://www.learningcreators.com/myths.htm

Do you want to read more free information like this? Go to my blog: http://www.learningcreators.com/blog/

Glen Ford is an accomplished consultant, trainer and writer. He has far too many years experience as a trainer and facilitator to willingly admit.