What to sell on the Internet?

The phenomenal growth of ecommerce lures more and more people
to dream about starting an online business. The question that
bothers many and restrains them from realizing their dream is
what to sell on the Internet.
If you have spent sometime on the Internet trying to figure
out what product or service you should choose to sell online,
you must have noticed that people are selling every conceivable
product and service over the Internet. Contrary to popular
belief, even big ticket items are also selling on the Internet
very well. But, nevertheless, it is not very easy for a newbie
to find a product rather quickly and start marketing online.

If you are having difficulty in finding a good tangible product
to market on the Internet or afraid to manage all the hassles
of shipping and handling you may seriously consider selling
information online.

According to data, most people browse through the Internet in
search of some sorts of information that they require. Survey
conducted by Neilsen Media Research shows that Books and
Information Category tops the highest selling product and
service on the Internet with a significant margin in comparison
to other categories. This makes information a natural product
for sale on the Internet. Information sells online in the formats
of e-books, articles, reports, data, whitepapers etc. If you
have expertise in any specific field, you may consider selling
your ideas in one of the mentioned format.
Check out Clickbank’s marketplace to get a good idea what people
are selling. You will be truly amazed by the scope of ideas!

Although, information is the most sought after product on the
Internet; that does not mean it is an easy-to-sell product. For
one thing – there are tons of free information available on the
Internet, and the second is people on the Internet are not very
willing to pay for information. This is the reason why you have
to be very careful in choosing the right product to market online.

People will buy your information product, if it is:

- A particular knowledge that they crave
- It makes their life easier, i.e. saves time
- It teaches them some subject that they would like to learn.

Which are the products that fall in these categories?

Expert advises, tips and ideas in a niche field:

Body building tips, dieting secrets, dating ideas, stock trading
secrets, Internet marketing ideas are examples of this category.

Trend forecasts:

Businesses spend fortunes to have a better understanding of
specific trends. If you have enough expertise to predict a trend
of a specific field, i.e. high technology, stock market, Internet,
etc., you may have a comfortable living by selling newsletter
and whitepapers. The hard part is: you have to prove that you are
really an expert in this field.

Courses:

Thanks to Internet, more and more people are willing to learn
different subjects from the comfort of their work and home. If
you have enough knowledge of a particular subject, create an
online course and market it through Internet.

Surveys and data:

Business bases on various marketing, demographic, sales and
other data. You may collect those data from various sources
and by conducting your own online surveys. This also requires
enough knowledge of a specific business field and their
requirement.

Research and Analysis:

People are often ready to pay for research and analysis
information of their fields because, in general, this saves their
own time. That is why subscription based stocks and other research
websites are thriving on the Internet.

There are number of other reasons why you should consider
selling information on the Internet.

Audience size

Millions of people from all over the world are browsing through
the Internet in any given time. Your information product can be
exposed to a very large number of prospective buyers in no time.

Easy to develop

Information products like reports and e-books are fairly easy
to create. All you need is – the knowledge of the field, a
little determination and enough time to spend on it.

Low cost and low over head

You can create and market a report for less than US $100. You
can take advantage of numbers of free marketing tools available
on the Internet. You can even keep your overhead low by doing
things all by yourself.

You can start part time

This is one business you can start from shoestring and spending
only couple of hours a day. You can keep your job until you
feel comfortable with the earning you generate through your online
endeavor.

Conduct business from anywhere

The best thing about this business is you can do it from
anywhere. You are no longer confined to a specific geographical
region. While developing your information product keep in mind
the following aspects:

- Does this product satisfy a need or does it solve a problem?
- Is their enough value in it?
- Is it a better product than others available on the Internet?
- Is this product easy to market to your chosen market segment?

The last question is very important as the sheer size of
Internet makes it virtually impossible to focus on it as a whole.
You must segment your market as clearly and as specifically as
possible to become a successful Internet marketer.

Once you finished developing your product, initially, try
selling your product through a marketplace similar to Clickbank.
This will allow you to setup your online business fairly quick.
You will not need a merchant account of your own and you can
build your affiliate program with an ease.