This is a particularly important step. And the reason is because you want to make your ebook information product available to as many people as humanly possible.

Statistically, most internet users are running on a Windows Operating System format.

That means statistically, most internet users can benefit from executable formatted products, or those that come in the ever popular .exe file extension.

Now that’s fine, but if you decide to only use the .exe format, you’re leaving out a good chunk of potential customers that run on non-Microsoft operating systems, such as Macintosh or Red Hat.

There is a solution to offer your ebook to almost every potential customer no matter which operating system they run on.

And that is by using…

The Portable Document File, or PDF, made possible by Adobe.

The genius of this particular file format for information products is that because the .PDF files run on an independent  program that can be utilized from any operating system, it then makes the document files platform independent themselves so long as the customer has the program to run the .PDF files  from.

Adobe Reader itself is also completely free for anyone to download and use. Now,  several years ago Adobe Acrobat was the only product to create such a file format. 

At a cost of $300 it wasn’t very cost effective for the entry-level marketer to take advantage of it.

Now, however, there are free ways to create a PDF file for your products.
One of them is: http://www.cutepdf.com/Products/CutePDF/writer.asp
 
Download the PDFWriter software and install it on your computer.  Then from your word processing program simply choose it as your “print” option.
 
You’ll then be asked where you want to save the file.  Pick a location and save the text document as a PDF file.
It’s as simple as that to create a high quality text-based infoproduct for you to promote.
Another one I’v mentioned before is http://www.openoffice.org:

To use it as a PDF compiler, all you need to do is open it up by creating a New Document.

Then when you finish writing up and formatting your original product as far as font settings, line spacing, adding images, and things of this nature are concerned, all you need to do is hit the Export as PDF button and it’ll be exported in .PDF form.

Now normally, the links inside the document won’t be clickable when you open up the finished PDF file in Adobe Reader.

There is a way to work around this. Two ways actually. The first, and easiest, is to simply add the entire link within the document so that your readers can copy and paste them themselves to their own browsers.

The second and a bit more complicated way is to download a PDF editing program.

One free option can be found at: http://www.pdfedit995.com.

However, if you are going to use this option, you’ll also need to download the PDF995 program at http://www.pdf995.com.

This works like an additional printer and creates the PDF files this way. Sounds complicated, but it’s not really.

All the information you could ever need about using the PDF995 line of software can be found right at their website.

Another tool you want to use is WinZip at http://www.winzip.com

All you really need to do is create a specific name for your zipped file, something like myproduct.zip etc., add the files, and they’ll be ready to upload.

Simply open up the WinZip program, choose the Use Evaluation Version, and if you aren’t already using the Classic interface, then just hit the WinZip Classic button at the lower left corner of the program window that opened up.

Once you’re there, a different screen will appear.

Choose the New icon at the top. When you click the new icon, a new window will pop up. In the File name: area, put the name of the file you’d like your zipped product to have. Say, myproduct, then be sure it’s inside the folder you want it to be in, or make note of where it is going, and then click OK.

Now, find the files you want to add inside your zip file for your product.

For instance the MyProduct.pdf, any related graphics like ebook covers, generic sales pages and hit the Add button.

If you want to add multiple files at the same time, hold down the Ctrl key when selecting the files.

Once you’ve finished, release the Ctrl key and then hit the Add button. All the selected files should upload inside the zip file together.

If you have a specific folder you would like to add to the zip file, then you will need to hit the Cancel button to close the Add window.

Once closed, you will be taken back to the original window. Now, you will need to open up the My Computer area and navigate to the folder you wish to add.

Highlight the folder, then drag it over to the empty white space under the top icon menu on the WinZip window that is open. Then you should see your files appear there. You will not see the folder, but rest assured when you open up your newly zipped file it will be there.

Close  the WinZip Program and find your myproduct.zip file inside the folder you placed it in, that’s all there is to this.

Remember, stop thinking of a “product”… think in terms of “content”.  Think about the outline you built and the content you’ve collected.

That content IS your product(s).  The way you package and present it is just window dressing.

Here are the 30 most effective and profitable information product types which you can use as a guide to package your own products:

1. E-Books

Content converted to a PDF file.  You’ll see a free way to convert content to a PDF later in this action guide. 

2. Books

Content converted to a PDF file and then sent to a printer. 

If you want to self-publish your book, you’ll see a great Print-On-Demand (POD) website later in this action guide.  You can print just one book or 25,000.  It’s a great way to get started with a physical book.

3. Newsletters

Content ‘sections’ (articles) that are either used in an offline newsletter or an online ezine.  A book of content could give you enough content for a year’s worth of newsletters.

4. Blogs

Content ‘snippets’ used in an online blogging program.  Snippets would be like taking the title and first paragraph or two from an article. 

The debate is still out on this but there are some who say you should use the entire article of content for a blog and others who say you should just use a quick snippet of info to capture the reader’s attention.

5. Audio Books

Record yourself (or someone else) reading your book content.  Yes, just read it and record it.  Voila – you’ve got an audio book.

Later in this action guide I’ll show you how to do this with a free software product.

6. Podcast

Record yourself talking about your subject matter. 

You can read part of your book.  Like reading sections or chapters of the content.

You can just talk about it.  You’ve done the research.  You’re now an expert.  Just talk about what you know.

You can use the free software product given later to record your podcast.

7. Audio Program

Multiple audio CDs in one program. 

Whenever you gather content for an idea you’ll always have more content than you can fit into a book or e-book.  A one CD ‘audio book’ could become an full blown ‘audio program’ by breaking it into separate CDs for each chapter and adding additional content.

This is just like a blog or a podcast except it’s recording the content as a video instead of text or audio.

Although you will have to invest in a camera (either digital video camera or webcam) the software to edit and package the video is completely free – I’ll tell you about it later.

9. Video Program

Just like the Audio Program except the content is recorded as a video.  For example, you could read the book into the camera or you could be recorded teaching the material to a group.  Break the content up into sections and place each section on a separate DVD.

10. Workbooks

Examine your content and create a book or report specifically designed to ‘teach’ the material.  Present the information in a summarized format and have questions for each book chapter/section.

11. Multi-Media Kits

Put your book, audio book and/or DVD or you reading your book together.

12. Coaching Program

Present your content via the phone or email depending on how you’ve structured your coaching program.

13. Teleseminars

Present your content via the telephone – normally in an interview type format.  However, I have listened to a few teleseminars that was just the expert speaking the entire time.

14. Teleworkshops

Present your content via telephone in a “workbook” type scenario.  Make it a smaller group with an interactive layout.

15. Home Study Course

Combine books, audio programs, video programs, workbooks, etc. into one product. 

Anyone who can create enough content for an e-book has enough content to convert their content into a Home Study Course and have a high-end product to promote.

16. Membership Site

Include your text, audio and video content in a secure website where your clients pay you each month for access to the material.

The great opportunity here is it is residual income that continues each month.

17. Radio Show

With the power of the internet anyone can have their own radio show.  You can record the content and have it played at various times or you can do a live show.  Same content as a podcast.

18. TV Show

Internet TV (IPTV) is coming very quickly.  Just like internet radio – within 1-2 years anyone can build their own TV show on the internet.

19. Syndicated Column

As an expert in your field, you may be asked to submit your articles to a newspaper.  Or you can post your articles on your own website and others can syndicate the content via RSS feeds.

20. Articles

Crop your book content into smaller sections – and you’ve got a ton of articles you can use online or offline.

21. Mini Books or Reports

You guessed it… if you have a book with 5 chapters, you could make it into 5 “special reports”.

22. CD/DVD Training

Use your audio CDs and/or video DVDs to create a monthly training subscription service.  Think like “Video Professor”.  You’ve already got the content created – get clients to pay you monthly for it.

23. Magazine

A magazine is nothing but a large Newsletter.  The great thing about a magazine… you can get advertisers to pay you money each month to be listed in your magazine.

24. Software

Convert your content into an executable file.

You don’t have to be a software developer.  I used HTML and Flash to package text, audio and video into an EXE.  Once an EXE I called it software and it could be promoted with a higher perceived value.

25. Keynote Speaking

Summarize your content into PowerPoint slides to speak from when asked to be an expert presenter.

26. Resell Rights

Provide others the ability to resell your product(s) and keep 100% of the profits.

Pro:  Higher perceived value

Con: You lose control of your product

If you want income – this is a great way to do it.  If you have a product you don’t want to lose control of – do not do this.

27. Private Label Rights

Provide others the ability to modify your content, brand it with their own name and resell it as their own.

Pro: Higher perceived value

Con: It will no longer be your product after it’s rebranded

28. Licensing

Make an arrangement with a company to purchase a large quantity of your product.

For example: A company may license your content for all their employees.

29. Foreign Rights

Convert your content into other languages.

30. Consulting

A culmination of all your research and content presented as required by the person and/or company that hires you.

The key point when it comes to packaging is that you package your product to meet your need.

If you need a viral product – then use a viral package like podcast, special report, etc.

If you need an entry-level product - then go with an e-book, book or audio book.

If you need a high dollar product – then package products together like books, CDs, Workbooks, DVDs, etc. 

NOTE: The most important part of this information is that you notice it ALL comes from the content we put together based on our idea’s outline.

There is NO difference between the content in an e-book, audio and video but depending on the way you package it you could receive a much higher profit because you’ve provided a much higher value to the client.

Make sense?

If you can create an e-book then you can create ANY of the products/services shown above.  They are just various ways to package the exact same content.