Is This The Right Time To Become An Infopreneur?

Whenever I talk to people about becoming an Internet infopreneur, I hear two objections - from different sections of the audience.

One group says, "Oh, the time's not yet ripe for this sort of thing"

And the other says, "But, isn't it already too late?"

The fact is, there is no 'perfect' time to start being an infopreneur.

Let's face it. There's nothing new about compiling data into information. And there's nothing new about selling the processed product. Why, even the Internet is no longer 'new' - though it is constantly evolving.

What is, however, relatively new and unexplored, is the concept of selling information products over the Internet to various niche audiences.

Is the time right to start doing this?

Just look at these numbers.

E-commerce over the Internet in the U.S. for the third quarter of 2006 amounted to $27.5 BILLION, a 4.5% increase over the 2nd quarter and a 20% growth over last year (Source: U.S. Census Bureau News, Nov.2006). For this study, ecommerce was defined as the value of goods and services sold online.

Annual spending per buyer increased from $457 in 2001 to $784 in 2006.

The trend is reflected around the world. Below are the total worldwide eCommerce Revenues for 2004

North America $3.5 trillion
Asia Pacific $1.6 trillion
Western Europe $1.5 trillion
Latin America $81.8 billion
Rest of World $68.6 billion

Source: Forrester Research

So what are they buying? And more specifically, for you as an infopreneur, the important question is: "Are they are buying INFORMATION?"

The answer is a resounding "Yes".

In 2004, more than 14 million Americans made digital content purchases - each for less than $2. TowerGroup forecast that by 2009, the market for micropayments would grow to $11.5 billion in revenue.

One area in which micropayments are growing in the U.S. is for online paid content. Despite double-digit increase for micropayments, at $12.8 million in revenue, the share is only a 1 percent of total online paid content revenues. Do the math - you'll see just how vast the potential is for selling content online.

43.6% of all purchases over $50 were made on Business Content - and that's good news if you are targeting that market. More and more consumers will buy low-priced content online, with music continuing to lead the way.

In 2005, data from Nielsen NetRatings's Holiday eShopping Index showed a 33 percent increase in online purchases over the previous year. Books, music, and video combined were the fastest growing category, with a 238% increase.

Are you convinced yet? Or maybe a smaller, more personal sampling will prove the point more forcefully.

In my own infopreneuring business, the revenues and profits from the first half of 2006 were higher than entire 2005.

A few marketing changes may have impacted these figures, but my instinctive analysis is that more people are buying specialized information online, are willing to pay more for useful information, and when satisfied they are getting good quality stuff, are buying more of it to meet their growing and changing needs.

And that change has doubled my sales in a year! So, you tell me. Is the time right for you to start doing this?

Internet Infopreneur
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