Your Product Doesn’t Have to Contain 100% Unique Content

Many bloggers seem to find the task of creating a product daunting. I know I did.

I knew creating a product could greatly increase my income, but coming up with content to fill up an ebook, video, membership program, or any other product seemed like an overwhelming project.

However, after listening to this interview with Pay Flynn and thinking back at products I had bought, I realize that creating a product doesn’t have to be this huge audacious goal.

See you don’t need your product to have 100% unique content. This realization takes a lot of the work out of the equation. You can repurpose some of your existing content and include it as part of your product to make the task easier.

This may seem like a scam but your customers won’t mind.

Flynn created an ebook with 15% unique content. The other 85% was already existing content from his blog. Yet he doesn’t get complaints from his customers and he sells many ebooks every month.

I look back at one of my favorite purchases, the ebook that SEO Book used to sell. This ebook gave me a great SEO foundation and I was able start a successful freelance SEO business. About 60% of the ebook was something I had already read on the SEO Book blog, but I didn’t mind.

So why do people not mind repeat content in a product?

Let’s look at 5 reasons.

1. They forget what they read.

People are usually in a browsing/scanning mindset when they read blogs. They are not very focused and forget a lot of what they read.

Therefore, the product seems much more unique when they consume it.

And once they pay money for it, they are willing to concentrate more since they have invested money. So they get more out of the product than reading the blog.

Also, products contain much more content than a blog post, which makes people set aside more time and focus to consume them.

2. They haven’t read the existing content.

Most of your readers have not read all your content. For example, anything older than 6 months is often brand new to the bulk of your readers.

3. The content organization adds value.

When I read the ebook from SEO Book, I started seeing how different SEO elements connected with each other. In the past, I had looked at SEO as a bunch of unrelated tasks. But through the ebook, I saw the effectiveness of holistic thinking, which made me a much better search specialist.

A well-organized product allows you to lay the proper foundation for your topic. You can sequence your content in a way that adds a lot of value.

For example, a good ebook will have the beginner stuff first, then intermediate, and close with advanced subjects.

In contrast, the order in which blog posts are published typically don’t add much value. And anyways, many of your readers are not reading your posts in order.

4. The unique content is very valuable.

Pat Flynn’s ebook is a guide to passing an architecture test. His 15% unique content in his ebook contains many of his best studying tips.

So even if a customer realizes that most of the ebook is repeat content, if they are able to pass the test using the unique content, they will be grateful they spent the money.

Here’s the takeaway: Give a lot of value for free on your blog, but save some of your best stuff for your product, the stuff that’s worth paying for.

5. Repetition is useful.

Finally, don’t underestimate the repetition factor. The more you read the same piece of info, the more you will remember it and be able to apply it in your life.

I hope this blog post has given you more confidence to create your own product. It’s not as big of a process as you think. You can include some of your existing valuable content to lower the workload.

Good luck!

Performancing offers blog management services.

8 thoughts on “Your Product Doesn’t Have to Contain 100% Unique Content

  1. Although your points are valid, I tend to disagree with the premise. I would like to know that writers of internet info have at least TRIED to make their product unique and therefore all their own. I have read (and bought) many e-books that weren’t worth their weight in salt and am left with a heaping pile of crap. I would like to know that there is an established honor system, dictating that these products are unique and thought provoking.
    I know it’s all wishful thinking, but I’d like to know that integrity is still part of the equation.

  2. The thing about a good info product is that you are often adding value by aggragating content and producing it in a convenient form (even if the information contained could be found in various other places.

    I agree that interviews are often a great way to produce a product because you are providing information that is seen as having premium value – especially if you are interviewing the right expert and getting information from them which is not readily available from anywhere else. It is also quick, cheap and painless and there are many good transcribing services out there now.

  3. The information is already out there for free!

    But the price is really for a)the covience and b)you are psychologically commiting to the process…literally buying into it.

  4. Dee thank you for the input. I think you are right on the money. Another suggestion for creating a product is with Private Lable Right’s. I have taken products with Master or Private Label rights and re-vamped them. Hopefully, made them better and sold them as my own. I try to find products that solve a problem or help people in some way. I also create my own products and you are right it does seem overwhelming at times but it is all worth it in the end.

  5. Great post. I included a few paragraphs of info I read some where else in my recent twitter book.

    I think if it’s a benefit to your product and it is in small amounts then having other content is fine.

  6. Great ! We are all knew that creating a product could greatly increase our income, No need for us to make our product to have 100% unique content. All we need to do is to repurpose some of our existing content.Thanks for your informative article. More power to your site! God bless 😉

  7. It’s not that hard to actually type up an entire ebook in a few days, but year your points are all valid. The hardest bit is likely knowing what to say or how to structure the content. By organizing etc you are definitely adding value. By putting everything in one place is another great value adder, plus the portability. You can’t always take the web with you. Anyhow, thanks for the post!

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