Information Marketing Home Study Course
How many products have you purchased that did not give you what you needed? I have purchased plenty like that. Usually those books tell me what I need to do but rarely, if ever, tell me how I need to do it. I have, for a long time contemplated writing an information product creation course that told the all important “how to do it.” As I began to research the topic to see if anyone was offering anything like that, I came across Kevin Riley’s home study course entitled, “From Hobby To Your Own Profitable Home-Based How-To Business Empire” which promises to deliver not just the what but the “how to do it” as well.
Naturally I could not resist in getting my hands on a copy and seeing if this was the real deal. Below you will find everything that I found and my opinion on the home study course.
When you unzip all the files you are given 9 PDF’s that are the core course. Other than the checklist each PDF is a minimum of 44 pages long all the way up to 105 pages. The whole home study course spans approximately 507 pages between all the PDF’s in the course. This is not a skimpy little ebook with a little bit of information to whet your appetite.
The very first thing that impressed me with this course was the fact that there was an example product included. The example ebook was a completely finished information product on how to build a wooden birdhouse. By showing you a finished product Kevin allows you to visualize exactly what your product should look like when you have finished the home study course and have created your own information product.
Now let’s get down to what each manual in the course teaches you.
Manual 1 – Building Your Foundations
The first 18 pages of this manual give more information on how to be successful in the product information marketing business than I have seen in hundreds of other books. To be honest, I was amazed at how Kevin laid out the information contextually and visually so that anyone could understand how to start and more importantly how to proceed. This is the part that many other books leave out.
From there he provides detailed information on how to get a domain for your new publishing empire. What you should do before buying a domain name, what tld you should get (domain extension, .com .org .net) and why. Kevin then takes you through a very detailed tour of how to register your domain name from start to finish. It is very easy to follow because there are graphics every step of the way. By doing this he as made it so you will see exactly what he is talking about and can even flip back and forth between the registering site (in this case GoDaddy) and your manual to you can see what to expect next. You will never feel lost.
Once you have that all done Kevin takes you through the process of securing your webhosting and pointing your new domain to your web hosting account. Once again, done with the same attention to detail as the registration process.
Once you have registered your domain, secured your web hosting and pointed your domain to your hosting account he leaves you with a tip about how and why you should be using your photo to help brand your line of products.
Manual 2 – Researching For Success
The first section of this manual is how to generate ideas for your information product. Kevin goes through several ways to obtain the initial idea and then how to really dig deep to find what people want. But it doesn’t stop there, he shows you how to use forums in a way that I am pretty sure most of you have never heard before.
The second section is all about the keywords. Kevin teaches you how to use free keyword tools and a paid option as well so that you have the best chance to get the right keywords. He explains why keyword research is important and what to look for in your keywords as well as what to exclude. As with everything preceding this section the instructions are detailed and riddled with graphics to you can see exactly what he is addressing at all times.
Next you will learn how to analyze your competition. I am sure you have heard the phrase that knowldege is power and Kevin is giving plenty of knowledge in this manual. In this section you will learn a lot about constructing your own sales page by evaluating and analyzing your competitors pages. This will help you not just now but far into the future.
Last but not least is how to start and maintain a fact sheet. This will be a very important piece of the product creation puzzle when you begin writing your first and subsequent ebooks.
Manual 3: Planning And Prepping Your Book
Now you will get into the nitty gritty of the actual creation of your information product. Now you must remember that Kevin advocates writing a “how-to” guide because everyone wants to know how to do something and you are going to be able to tell them and get paid for doing so.
The first thing you will be doing is titling your book and Kevin takes you through a lesson in how to get a great title and how to brand yourself and your book at the same time. The next step is to have your cover and book graphics created. By the end of this section you will know how to get a graphic designer, how to ensure you get what you want from them, and how to finalize everything.
Now that you have finished the cover and graphics for the cover you need to lay the book out. Kevin goes into great detail how to make this happen easily and efficiently. You will learn how to lay out your book with images quickly and easily.
The next step in the product creation section that Kevin shows you, is how to shoot photos for your how to guide. He gives plenty of tips on how to shoot your images, what to do about backgrounds that are not desirable and information on lighting so you will get the optimum photos for your book.
Kevin spends a lot of time in this portion of the book. One of the things I noticed about Kevin’s books when compared to other marketer’s books is that Kevin provides many photos and graphics to ensure the reader knows and understands every step of every detail he is trying to cover. This course is no different.
Manual 4 – Assembling Your Book
This manual is a detailed explanation of how to put your book together. Every step is covered from beginning to end. Tips and techniques are covered that included how to edit your template, insert your photos and graphics, disclaimers, title pages, headings and sub-headings, linking your table of contents and much more.
Many people have been hesitant to write their own ebook because they feel like they don’t know enough but this home study course provides everything necessary in simple to understand and easy to digest chunks.
Kevin also give you a few tips on how to market other books as an affiliate. Once you have created more of your own you will be able to use the same process to market yourself in every book you write. I truly am amazed at the detail and the information that Kevin is providing in this book. Some of these things are the “secrets” that some won’t tell you but Kevin lays it all out there so you can really be successful from the start.
By the time you are done with this manual you will know how to set up your book, write your book, zip your book up and upload it to your server. You will also learn how and why you should be secretive about your folder naming conventions when uploading your files and how to get you customers and others to help sell your book for you.
Manual 5 – Setting Up Your Customer System
This manual shows you in great detail (as all the manuals before this) how to set up your email account properly, how to forward all your email, how to develop your email series, and then how to set up an account with Aweber and create your form, your first list and your email series.
Kevin leads you through setting up a business email using Gmail. I use Gmail on a regular basis but apparently I know very little about it. I learned more things about Gmail in this manual than I ever knew existed. Now that I know how much I CAN do with Gmail, I may utilize it a little differently than I do currently.
There is very little information available on how to create a quality email series online. Not so in this manual. Kevin covers what to send, frequency, building trust, salutations, links, and everything else that is required when creating a quality email series.
Many marketers would agree that Aweber is one of the best, if not the best autoresponder available. It can be a bit daunting if you have never used one because there are a lot of features and many options that can be set. But just like the rest of this home study course, he covers creating your account, your list, and everything else within the Aweber controls in great detail so that you will be confident that you have done it right the first time.
Manual 6 – Crafting Your Sales Page
Creating a sales page is an intimidating project for most new to intermediate marketers. It takes a little time and effort but it is not as hard as many of us make it out to be. Some of the best advice I ever read was, “A bad sales page will bring in more sales than no sales page at all.” I realized at that point that it was just a matter of doing it. And, just like anything else you do in life, the more you do it the better you get. Don’t be afraid, because if you fear it then you will not do it and guess what, no sale come from no sales page.
There are many pieces to a good sales letter and this manual covers them all. This manual is really a mini-course in copywriting. It is laid out in easy to follow and understand language and provides all the tips and tricks that the professionals use.
Once the sales page has been crafted and is ready to go Kevin goes through setting up the $7 Secrets script to control all the aspects of your sales, affiliates, etc.
Manual 7 – Pulling In Your Customers
Last but certainly not least how do drive traffic to your new sales page so that you can make your first sale. There are many tips and techniques given to you starting with Forum marketing. He then continues into driving traffic with a newsletter and broadcast emails once your list begins growing.
Content marketing is another way that Kevin teaches you how to drive traffic to your sales page. He provides great graphic illustrations showing how the whole thing works and really makes you understand just how much this can help. Article or content marketing can be a bit intimidating to many people because they think that they can possibly write that content. However, the detailed instructions provided in this manual make it much easier and actually seem possible. Outsourcing is also covered just in case you absolutely will not write your own.
There is also information on submitting your articles to article directories and a great section on creating a squidoo lens and how to use social bookmarking tactics to drive traffic via your lens.
Worksheets
That takes care of the core PDF’s in this home study course. But that’s not all that is included with this course. There are worksheets to help you do everything from getting your testimonials to apologizing for a fouled up download. These worksheets will keep you on track and help you create headlines, bullet points, email messages, setup your photo shoots, create titles and much much more.
Templates
There are 4 different ebook templates to help you create stylish and well formed books.
Set Yourself Up For Success
Five PDF’s that will motivate you, encourage you, and help you discipline yourself to work this plan and succeed.
Sales Page Items
Here you will find a template for your sales page and graphics for bullets and a guarantee graphic.
Likes:
This information marketing home study course is one of the finest products I have come across for a new information marketer. Kevin Riley shows you exactly, step by step, in great detail with loads of screen shots and graphics, how to create, and market your first information product. He does not assume that you have any knowledge and covers every step, not skipping anything. I don’t believe that anyone who purchases this course and follows it step by step could fail.
I love the fact that Kevin included a complete product that you can view and study. It totally ties the whole course together.
Dislikes:
I think that the text and graphics in this book are great but I would like to see a video version as well for those who learn better by watching. This is not necessarily a dislike in the program but rather a suggestion. Some of the worksheets would lend themselves well to an excel spreadsheet.
If you are new to internet or information marketing this course is everything you need wrapped up in one package. Before reviewing this information marketing home study course I was aware of Kevin Riley but not familiar with him or his products. I can say now that I am totally impressed with his knowledge, his style of teaching, and the fact that he does what other marketers don’t. He provides you with the “how” and not just the what.
If you have been searching and trying to find a course that will lead you through the internet marketing woods you have come to the right place. The best part is that this isn’t going to cost you an arm and a leg. Take action now and get Kevin Riley’s – From Hobby To Your Own Profitable Home-Based How-To Business Empire. I promise, you won’t be sorry!
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