How to Create Your First Info Product – 13 Lessons Learned

I launched my first info product called "The Power of Knowing What You Want"
a few days ago which is about gaining clarity on what you truly want and achieving your goals systematically.

(If you prefer to read this as a Twitter thread, here's the link: https://twitter.com/Neats29/status/1330995333699166208?s=20)

I have made $625 in pre-orders so far. Here are some lessons learned:

1. Have a strong sense of "why":

Mine:

Gaining clarity on what I wanted, changed the trajectory of my life. I knew I could distil what I had learned and help others get started or continue on that journey.
I knew how to publish blog posts, or to ship code. But I didn't know how to sell something. I wanted to practise that skill.

It felt like a long term goal but I saw a tweet by Jack Butcher that said
"A tiny goal that will change your life, make $1 on the internet"

2. Validate your idea/assumptions:

I ran a poll and as soon as I saw the results of this poll, I knew that I wasn't just assuming that most people struggle with knowing what they want out of life.

3. Have a goal:

Mine:

Actually ship it! It can be a scary ride, some imposter syndrome came up that I hadn't felt in ages.
Impact 10 people. This one is hard to measure but hoping to get some feedback once it's released.

4. Build an audience, make friends:

Almost all sales came from my (small) audience and the friends I've made along the way, who came out and supported me.

5. Build in public:

Regardless of your audience size, build in public. Not only is it interesting to people, but it's also helpful. I learned so much from watching
JanelSGM on Twitter build in public.

6. Pick a topic you know well:

So well that you do not need additional research. You want to share hard-earned knowledge that feels like second nature by now.

Even then, I found it challenging to clearly explain some of the concepts.

7. Should you do pre-orders before starting?

A lot of people say don't start building until you have pre-orders because you don't know if anyone would buy it.

While this is valid advice, I wanted to practise shipping and promoting a product, regardless of the results. While it would have been very disappointing if no-one bought it at the end, it would have been even more disappointing if no-one pre-ordered at the start. I think I would have been discouraged to build it.

I only did pre-orders after I received my second round of feedback. But, I was building in public and had a signup form to take emails. So I knew there was some interest.

8. Copywriting ≠ writing:

Just because you know how to write, it doesn't mean you necessarily know copywriting. Learned the basics.

9. There are different task types. Do a bit of each at a time, they all inform one another. E.g.:

core material
design
promotion
creating a sales page
creating a signup form
etc.

10. Track your time per task type:

It's been super handy knowing how much time I've invested and how long things take.

11. Get feedback

I've done a couple of rounds of feedback. A few by friends and family and one by a potential customer.

12. Watch out for scope-creep (and perfectionism)

Try to stick to the original outline. There were a couple of times where I thought omg I should talk about this totally unplanned topic that I only just thought of Smiling face with open mouth and smiling eyes. It's almost always a bad idea.

13. Enjoy the process:

It's been a bumpy ride but it's been fun to materialise an idea that started off as a few scribbles in my notebook.

Here's the product page if you're curious https://gumroad.com/l/pkwyw, and any questions please let me know 😊