PROFITABLE CAREERS IN INFORMATION SALES

If you have a passion for a particular hobby, pass-time or field or interest, you may have already developed the core of a highly profitable business.

What single activity do you enjoy more than any other? Is it sewing, cooking, playing with the children or grandchildren? Or, are you more adventurous? Do you dream of long cross-country trips in a well-equipped camper, visiting the capitols of Europe and Asia or skiing the Swiss Alps? Maybe fishing in a crisp mountain stream at dawn or creating an heirloom in your own wood shop is your idea of "life at its best". On the other hand, you may relish the challenges of political or social activism, raising funds to help disadvantaged people or protecting our architectural heritage. All these, and thousands of other avocations can be developed as an information-marketing business.

BECOME A PART OF A QUIET REVOLUTION

We're in the midst of a quiet revolution that most people won't recognize until it's over. It's the information revolution, and unlike many of the great changes in history, virtually every man and woman alive today can benefit from the it. The only requirements are an understanding of the process and the Will to Seize the opportunities.

During the great period of discovery and colonial expansion from 1450 to 1800, most people worked on farms or in farm support trades. Their home and their land was their business. Even craftsmen, not directly engaged in farming, usually worked in a building directly adjacent to their home. During the industrial revolution of the 1800s people left home and migrated to urban centers where they found employment in factories. Because manufacturing required large numbers of people to to do coordinated work in a single location, cities became congested. People were alienated from their land and homes and the cities of the 19th and early 20th centuries developed pockets of pollution and crime.

After the Second World War the upwardly mobile middle class fled to the suburbs in search of a better life. But this provided only a marginal improvement. Most people were still forced to leave their homes every day and travel to a central location where their work could be coordinated with that of others. The commute became part of the American lifestyle and thousands of hours were removed from the workers' lives. The family unit was weakened by the absence of one or both parents who were now required to spend additional hours "on the road". Commuting also exacted a toll on the environment as more cars, petroleum and highways were needed to facilitate commuting.

The information revolution promises to alleviate both the social and environmental problems of the industrial revolution by making it practical for many people to tele - commute. With a relatively inexpensive computer and modem in their homes, millions of Americans will be able to interact with coworkers around the world. They can earn a handsome living without leaving home, clogging the freeways, polluting the air or burning foreign oil. What's more, they will have more flexible schedules and be available to their families more frequently. By occupying their local communities more hours of the day, they will reduce crime and take a greater responsibility for their surroundings.

A second, less obvious, benefit will also occur. As large corporations decentralize their work force they frequently find they can operate with fewer full time employees. This has led to much of the corporate down-sizing we have all heard about (or in many cases, experienced) in recent years. Some believe this down-sizing helps the corporation and hurts the worker, but a growing population of ingenious information entrepreneurs, or infopreneurs (to coin a phrase), have realized that they were much better off outside the bounds of corporate loyalty. These infopreneurs, or as they are more commonly called, consultants, are suddenly free to sell their wares to the highest bidder. In some cases that will be the company that once employed them, in other cases it may be that company's direct competitor. In still other instances the most lucrative market may be the public at large. The corporate employee is now free to take the information gathering and processing skills they learned at the expense of their employer and sell information products far and wide.

The only limits on the potential of the infopreneur-consultant will be their own imagination and marketing skill. Some will choose to develop their expertise and sell it on an hourly basis as freelance problem-solvers or trainers. These are the people we have come to consider traditional consultants. However, they will always be at the mercy of the 24 hour day. Most of us need to sleep six to eight of those hours, then family, household chores and normal social functions take up another four to five hours. When all is considered, it's very difficult for the most successful consultant to sell more than 40 hours a week. Many consultants make a good living, but there is a better way.

In stead of allowing your market to be limited by the number of hours in a work week, leverage your hours by creating information products that can be sold to the general public. In stead of collecting a lot of money from a few clients, collect a little from many. In this way you can sell the same information over and over with very little incremental effort or expense. It's a practice we used to call PUBLISHING. Actually we still do. But, the opportunities have expanded so rapidly that a new term almost seems necessary.

Once publishing was the province of millionaires and vast corporations. The capital investment required to publish even a modest brochure was far beyond the means of the average individual. Today, the personal computer and the electronic data highway have made it possible for ordinary people to create complex information products, not only in their homes, but from virtually anywhere in the world they can find electricity and a phone connection. What's more, publishing is no longer confined to the printed page. Today publishers have the ability to incorporate audio, video, computer animation and the fascinating interactive world of computer CD in their information products.

PROFITS FROM THE INFORMATION REVOLUTION

Not everyone who profits from this explosive new industry will be a product creator. As the farmer needed the blacksmith and the factory worker needed the machinist, so the infopreneur needs marketers, researchers and data entry help. Right now, you may think that creating a salable information product is beyond your abilities (We will show you it is not.) Even if it was, you could profit from the sale of other's work.

Many people ask, "Don't I need to be a trained writer or artist to create an information product?" The answer is; absolutely no! Although the information industry offers writers and artists exciting new ways to sell their services, many information products consist of simple data bases or directories anyone can learn to produce. As we said earlier, you probably have the core of a great infomarketing business in your possession right now!

BUILDING ON DREAMS

Let's test this theory. Make a list of the 10 things you would enjoy most in your life. They can be things you have done in the past or things you have merely dreamed of doing. You now have the core element in an exciting new business, a business that could generate $50,000 to $250,000 and more in the next 12 months.

Your first assignment is to go to your local library. It contains two books that will tell you which of the activities on your list will pay off and which won't. They are THE OXBRIDGE DIRECTORY OF LISTS and STANDARD RATE AND DATA (Periodical Directory) and you will usually find them in the reference section. Actually, STANDARD RATE AND DATA is a whole set of books. You are interested in the volume that pertains to periodicals (magazines and newspapers).

You're going to use these two books to determine the size of the market that is interested in each of the activities you have listed. If you were a large national corporation, like Proctor & Gamble, you might pay your ad agency thousands of dollars for this kind of information. But, you'll get it virtually free (and your information will probably be more accurate.) Check the number of publications in STANDARD RATE AND DATA that relate to each activity on your list. For instance, if you listed skiing as one of your favorite activities, turn to the topic index and look for publications that deal with skiing. Also look for related topics like "winter sports", "cross-country skiing", and "mountain sports". Be sure to identify the entire market for each of your activities. List each magazine or periodical, then turn to the listing for those publications and list their circulation (the number of people they reach with each issue). Create a numerical score for each of your activities consisting of the total number of readers of all publication that relate to each activity on your list.

This research process is a little time consuming. But remember, when it is complete you will have information worth thousands of dollars. That's one of the marvelous things about compiling information. You can create products worth thousands of dollars virtually from thin-air. It's like prospecting for gold with none of the physical risk or discomfort.

Now compare your list of activities to THE OXBRIDGE DIRECTORY OF LISTS. This massive book contains all the major mailing lists available and the number of people on each list. Look first at the classified index to identify lists of direct mail marketers who would appeal to others interested in your activities. If you have listed cooking as one of your activities, you will naturally want to look for "housewares". But also look for headings like "herbs and spices". Note all the relevant lists and the number of records (people) they contain. Create a numerical score for each of your activities consisting of the total number of records on all mailing lists that pertain to each activity.

Now create a combined score for each of your activities by adding the number of issues circulated from STANDARD RATE AND DATA and the number of records from THE OXBRIDGE DIRECTORY OF LISTS. Naturally, there will be some overlap between the two figures. Many of the people subscribing to the publications will also be on the mailing lists but in this type of gross analysis that factor is unimportant. Your objective is to discover a numerical score that indicates high interest in one of your favorite activities.

Some activities are so highly specialized that they fail to achieve high scores from these two sources. If this happens to you, don't despair, you don't need scores in the millions to succeed in the information marketing business. In fact, the beauty of this system is that you can service small markets more effectively than many large corporations, thus avoiding competition. You may simply need to dig a little deeper to identify your markets. Our master-course, THE $1,000,000 DESKTOP PUBLISHING IDEA BOOK, lists other resources for defining the potential size of your potential market. Like our book, they are all readily available from most public libraries.

BRAINSTORMING A PRODUCT BASED ON YOUR RESEARCH

Let's begin by looking at some of the ways other people are using infomarketing to generate wealth. A variation on an existing successful enterprise could be your key to that big annual income.

Many of the following examples of infomarketing require a substantial commitment of capitol, others could be "boot-strapped", built gradually from a modest beginning by reinvesting profits along the way. This technique, often called pyramiding, is explained in our master-course, THE $1,000,000 DESKTOP PUBLISHING IDEA BOOK. More details on the work of these and many other entrepreneurs is included in a special bonus report, available exclusively with THE $1,000,000 DESKTOP PUBLISHING IDEA BOOK. We'll tell you how to get a copy a little later.

• Every day, companies large and small generate thousands of press releases with information they feel is vital to the public. The main-stream press will pick up and run a small fraction of these releases. One entrepreneur has capitalized on this by charging companies to run their stories in his publication. Another newsletter composed of press releases is a bimonthly tabloid produced by one man and has a circulation of 80,000.
• UNDER 25, a marketing newsletter with it's finger on the pulse of the nation's youth. has subscribers in major corporate marketing departments and ad agencies. Editorials are gleaned from a network of student reporters on campuses around the country.

  Why not provide the same report on Hispanics, Blacks, Seniors, etc.

• Another infopreneur publishes 30,000 copies of a biweekly youth oriented journal of music, films, theater and celebrity interviews. It is distributed free to New York City colleges and bookstore and has a large following among advertisers wishing to address this lucrative market.

What other age, ethnic or social groups would advertisers in your area

like to access through this type of direct "free" media? How about graduate students, farmers, senior citizens, high income families?

ADDICTION AND DRUG ABUSE

• A husband and wife team publish REFUNDLE BUNDLE, a letter that details major coupon and refund offers by grocery manufacturers. They have 30,000 subscribers.
• New Yorker publishes CHOCOLATE NEWS, a letter to more than 18,000 subscribers on the virtues of chocolate. It includes recipes and shopping tips.

  How about a healthy version of this publication? You could compile recipes for low-fat (sugar, salt, cost, etc.) versions of favorite family meals?

• WHITE-COLLAR CRIME REPORTER is a newsletter that focuses on insider trading in the stock markets and other illegal business practices. It reports both court rulings and defense strategies to a subscriber base of attorneys and corporate security officers. THE DEFENSE LITIGATION REPORTER is similar. Every two weeks it details legal developments in Pentagon fraud cases to military contractors and consultants. An annual subscription is $654.

  Highly specialized information commands high prices. You can acquire the type of information for which others will pay a premium (see THE $1,000,000 DESKTOP PUBLISHING IDEA BOOK.)

• A Lafayette Indiana man publishes a unique monthly letter on parenting. Each month the subscriber receives an issue that exactly corresponds to their child's age. Thus the content is more relevant to busy readers than broad-based parenting magazines. The letter has attracted 275,000 subscribers and generated $4.6 million in annual revenues.
• A New Yorker publishes a monthly letter on restoring and maintaining urban brownstone homes.

  You could do the same for country homes in your area, giving resources for materials and services. Invite service suppliers to contribute editorials on the specialized needs of your region, then offer them advertising space near their article.

• Newsletter Specialists, a Pasadena, California firm, will write, design, typeset and print letters for both promotion and in-house distribution. The owners developed their client base through ads in the LOS ANGELES TIMES and local business publications.
• PHOTOLETTER, a biweekly publication from Star Prairie Wisconsin, details the needs of hundreds of commercial and editorial photo buyers to their 1500 subscribers, most of whom are photographers, reps and agents.
• One woman in Arlington Massachusetts begins by finding the hot-topic of the day. Although these topics are frequently unfamiliar to her, she manages to prepare a prototype issue of a newsletter and test it's viability through a free distribution. When she finds a winner she hires an experienced editor and goes to press. So far, her OIL SPILL INTELLIGENCE REPORT, INDOORS AIR QUALITY UPDATE and EXPERT SYSTEMS STRATEGIES have garnered subscription rates from $200 to $400 per year.
• Another lady in Mountain View California watches or records 14 daily soap opera, then summarizes the plots and publishes them in her DAYTIME SERIAL NEWSLETTER. She has 8000 subscribers.
• A Charlottesville, VA man publishes a newsletter from his home. The subject: Travel in France. His annual gross income (at last report): a whopping $399,500. What's more, he can write off $50,000 a year in travel expenses.
• Another publisher produces a newsletter covering resorts that cater to families with children.
• A Chicago based publisher reports on unusual cultural events and attractions world-wide. They are the sort of things large travel magazines usually miss.
• Santa Barbara man publishes a newsletter that promotes escape from the urban rat race and the virtues of rural living.

  Try the same approach, but rather than selling subscriptions, sell it as a give-away to a gas company, railroad or resort area chamber of commerce.

• An Arizona native living in Japan, has developed a unique twist on the travel letter. He compiles a synopsis of the major news stories from the Japanese media and publishes the JAPAN FREE PRESS. It is sold to major corporations for distribution to their employees overseas (especially in the U.S.A.). This is extremely useful in areas where it is difficult to get foreign papers. Another American expatriate in Japan publishes Tokyo Weekender, a popular social tabloid distributed to 25,000 foreign residents in Tokyo bars and restaurants.
• Although PRIVATE GUIDE to RESTAURANTS is of special interest to San Francisco's many visitors, it's 13,000 subscribers are primarily locals. The publisher began by writing to 100 friends and asking them to subscribe. He promoted his publication through frequent appearances on local radio and through persistent publicity efforts.
• Not all financial newsletter publishers are economists or economic gurus. One man, who publishes GROWTH STOCK OUTLOOK, was a NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC staff photographer before he began his newsletter in his basement office. He now has 10,000 subscribers at $175 a year. Another gentlemen, now publisher of THE PROFESSIONAL INVESTOR, was a paratrooper, car salesman and chemist before starting his letter which now reaches 8,000 subscribers who pay $75 a year.
• A couple in Newport RI publish three investment newsletters from their home. We don't know their exact gross income but the letters range in subscription price from $425 to $99 a year and they have 30,000 subscribers.
• A resident of Boston is convinced that odd-lot stock trades represent the whim of the public and the "public" is always wrong. He's convinced 4,500 other people that his theory is accurate because they all subscribe to his newsletter which studies odd lot trading.
• A Larchmont, New York man compiles all the mentions of a stock in the leading news media and develops his "consensus rating report."
• The Doctor's Press of Lancaster Pennsylvania publishes a monthly newsletter that physicians can personalize with their own message. It's a great way to keep in touch with patients without blatantly advertising. The cost for 2,000 copies is between $450 and $550 a month. The publisher, a home entrepreneur, has provided the same service for dentists, according to FAMILY COMPUTING MAGAZINE.
• A cartoonist who's work centers on the subject of business life sells his wares to company newsletter publishers. He currently has over 1.6 million readers. Similarly, the entrepreneur behind WORDSERVICE INTERNATIONAL hopes to become the "small press UPI" she engages a network of 200 freelance writers in 40 countries to develop highly focused editorial content for specific newsletters and small magazines. Clients pay an annual subscription plus royalties for each article used.
• People like to spend their money where they feel welcomed and comfortable. So, the success of ethnic and special interest "yellow pages" should surprise no one.
• A New Yorker publishes a BLACK PAGES listing black owned businesses in his area. He charges between $200 and $1500 for each listing, depending on size.
• Following that same principal, another publisher produces a CHRISTIAN YELLOW PAGES from his home. Advertisers must sign a statement that they are born-again Christians. More than 2 million copies have been distributed through churches and bookstores in 19 states. A smaller version, called the CHRISTIAN BUSINESS DIRECTORY is published in San Diego.
• Small shops and service businesses that depend on trade from an isolated neighborhood are excellent candidates for advertisers in a neighborhood phone directory. Most phone company directories cover geographic areas too large to be cost effective for this type of advertiser. One man compiles several such directories for neighborhoods in Manhattan. Each contain between 50,000 and 100,000 residential listings. They are distributed free to residents and paid for by advertising in the front of the book. Assembling such a directory is easy, simply borrow a "reverse directory" (by street address) from your local library and use a good quality scanner and OCR program.
• Another variation on the old-standard yellow-page directory is produced by a Dallas area couple. Its SELECT - THE GUIDE TO REFERENCED BUSINESSES. Companies pay $385 to $5225 to be listed, but they must also pass a stringent reference check. The first edition of 50,000 books netted $18,000 on revenues of 150,000, but the couple expect to hit a gross of $750,000 when they are able to cover five upper-income Dallas-Fortworth neighborhoods.
• Tourist Guides are another popular form of directory. Although major tourist destinations usually have more than their share of slick, full-color guides, many secondary markets have none. That's what two Orlando Florida women discovered in the course of their research. So they spent six weeks investigating restaurants accommodations and tourist attractions and developed a book that included a calender of outings for every day of the week and special citrus and seafood recipes. They wholesale the book through a variety of outlets including newsstands.
• Who can resist the quintessential tourist guide, the map of Beverly Hills with star's homes emblazoned? An aspiring actor, developed a macabre variation on the theme, a map of dead star's grave sites. It sold 140,000 copies at $3.00 each in it's first six months.
• A more serious approach to locating celebrities was taken by the creator of THE ADDRESS BOOK, a 279 page volume that lists 3500 addresses (and in some cases phone numbers) of media, corporate, and government individuals and organizations world-wide. Now in it's sixth edition, it has sold more than 200,000 copies.
• Many urban centers are now served by companies who deliver restaurant food to your home. They usually publish a comprehensive listing of menus from their subscribing restaurants. But, home delivery is no less popular in secondary suburban markets that lack the population density to support such services. There, each restaurant uses part time kitchen help to make the delivery. But, promotion of the service is difficult. One publisher filled the need with his directory of 160 restaurants that deliver. It is available free in neighborhood shops, newsstands and the restaurants themselves.
• While still a junior at Princeton University, another enterprising young man recognized the need to connect engineering students with potential employers. Concentrating only on the state of New Jersey, he published a directory of companies that hire engineers. It was so successful that he expanded the enterprise to 22 directories covering 49 states. His annual gross is reportedly in the neighborhood of $850,000, with a net of $250,000.

  A variation on the theme was reported by the Boston Globe. It's an employment classified report, culled from 65 newspapers across the country and customized to each subscriber's specifications. One customer will get pages of "Accountants Wanted" while another will received the "Secretaries Wanted".

• A publisher from upstate New York, tried to make hotel reservations in a distant city and wasted all his pocket change in a phone booth. Later he discover that the hotel had a toll-free number and this lead him to the concept of a TRAVELER'S TOLL-FREE DIGEST. His concise 35 page document has sold over 100,000 copies.
• Again, the best ideas grow out of a discovered need, like that of a magazine executive who developed the concept of a "national phone directory of important numbers" in response to a his on-going need to communicate with major government offices, union and corporate headquarters, news organizations and financial institutions. He sold his idea for the 50,000 entry directory to Bantam Books, who paid him $90,000 for his trouble and funded three researchers to compile the work.

THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING

People all over the world are discovering they can generate an annual income of $50,000 to $250,000 with an information enterprise. THE $1,000,000 DESKTOP PUBLISHING IDEA BOOK leads you through the creation of dozens of projects, tells you how to market them and shows you how to maximize your profits. For more information on this valuable tool, e-mail PACPRINT@AOL, or call Pacific Print Media at (415) 391-4431 during West Coast business hours.