It’s no secret really.  People buy “How to” information in every niche, sub-niche, and marketplace there is.  Why?  I believe it’s because the human mind is curious and always seeking to find a new way of doing things.

The reason I wanted to address this topic is simply because consumers search for, purchase, and read (or watch) “How to” information in their subject of interest without the usual apprehension and hesitancy that they might otherwise experience with a regular report, ebook, course, or video.

Consumers understand the structure and format of “How to” articles and reports.  They have seen and already consumed them often and I believe, subconsciously, they expect the format to provide them with the information they are seeking. They know that they are going to get a step-by-step or natural progression of instructions that will lead them from where they are to where they want to be.

Providing “How to” information to your audience can be the very basis of your business.  In fact, there are very popular services online like Lynda.com (recently sold to LinkedIn), Teachable, and Udemy that allow experts to offer courses of instruction to targeted prospects in order to teach consumers “How to” do various tasks and solve problems or fulfill desires and dreams in the consumer’s life.

If you are not offering “How to” information to your audience and subscribers, you should be!  The “How to” format or model seems to be universally accepted across all subjects and topics and it has some advantages over other alternatives.

• “How to” information is relatively easy to outline, write, and publish.  As the creator of much “How to” information, I can tell you that it is a very intuitive and easy format to produce.  If you can create a list of steps in outline format, starting at the beginning and moving from one step to the next logical step through to the end of the sequence, you can create “How to” information.
• “How to” information lends itself to all types of media … from articles, to short reports, to white papers, to infographics, to ebooks, to video, to audio, and podcasts, membership site content, and just about every other publishing format there is!
• “How to” information allows the reader to quickly move through the information and spend more time on those steps that need further focus or less time on points that he has already accomplished or that he currently understands.
• “How to” information is easy to “put down” and then come back to at a later time.  Steps can be checked off or highlighted as they are accomplished.  The information doesn’t need to be totally consumed in one sitting because the reader can simply leave the material and return later to continue progressing through the information until the end.
• “How to” information lends itself to browsing and skimming.  It is an easy format to follow and to “pick apart” for highlights, key thoughts, important instructions, and quick consumption if that is the desire of the reader.
• “How to” information lends itself to easy and enticing marketing.  Think about all the books and reports and articles you’ve seen over your lifetime that were titled “50 Ways to …” or “The 10 Best …” or “The Top 5 …”  Well, you get the picture I hope.  It’s easy to title your information and if you’re dealing in a marketplace of rabid fans and consumers, you have a ready-made template for your information.
• “How to” information lends itself to lead magnets, teaser copy, summaries, and other snippets or shortened versions of the full “How to” information.  It’s very simple to include 1-3 ways, or steps, or tips, or tricks in order to entice the reader to want to see more … which can lead to a curiosity about the full document and process.
• “How to” information can be published in many different formats (all at the same time, if desired) including on a blog, in a newsletter, in an email series, in membership sites, in books, reports, videos, podcasts … well, in just about any type of media there is!

Here are a few suggestions about how to find information and examples of this type of writing in your niche.

Go to Amazon books and look at the titles in any niche.  There is an excellent probability that some of the most popular books will include some variation of this format:  “101 Ways to ______________.”  or  “10 Steps to _____________.”

Try all of these descriptors:

• Ways
• Steps
• Ideas
• Secrets
• Facts
• Things
• Reasons
• Basic
• Rules
• Tips
• Best
• Popular
• Easy
• Tricks
• Hacks
• Little know
• Undiscovered
• Brand New
• Amazing
• Fool proof
• Proven
• Professional

Well, hopefully you get the idea of the various ways of setting up your “How to” information steps and instructions.  There are many more things you might say to introduce what you are going to “teach” or expose in your information.

The Internet is the perfect vehicle for sharing your knowledge, your expertise, and your instructions if you desire to base your business on providing information to consumers in your niche.  It allows anyone with an Internet connection and a little bit of technical savvy to record and publish their “How to” material so that it can be presented to millions of people across the globe!

The Internet plus your valuable “How to” niche information can become the basis of a home-based business that will provide a very nice full-time income for its owner.  It’s a tried and proven business model that anyone can dive into!

To your online business success,

Steve Browne

www.BusinessEmpires.com

I remember vividly a debate carried on some forty years ago in one of my graduate school classes that centered on the question of whether it was a good idea to encourage students to set up and operate for-profit businesses prior to their completion of formal education.

There was a very distinct minority that took the side of believing in student run businesses. I was not one of them.

I felt that education shouldn’t be interrupted by business world training and pressures. The classroom needed full attention and focus at this critical time.

I remember thinking how risky and uncertain business creation was and that a wrong step or two could seriously jeopardize a student’s schooling because it would throw him quickly into ultra debt, maybe burdening legal problems, and possibly a lack of time to accomplish college studies.

Maybe I was concentrating too much on the negative side of business. I was looking for the pot holes and reasoning that there were too many potential down sides to student business to recommend that path to anyone.

Besides, there would always be time for entrepreneurship and taking some risk after graduation – why confuse academic learning and practical hands-on experience?

Today, my position in this debate (if there still is a debate) has changed 180 degrees – if the business is of a certain nature. What has changed to make me do an about face on the issue? The Internet.

When I was a graduate student the Internet was only a dream in some computer expert’s mind. The only kind of business was brick and mortar based and certainly much more labor and capital intensive than what is required for profitable business today.

Why can’t a college, or even high school student create a small Internet based business while still in school? The education and skills that could be gained by the young entrepreneur, regardless of the profit generated by the business, would be invaluable upon graduation and entry into the business world.

Even if the graduate decided not to go into business ownership full time as a career choice, he/she would have the understanding and experience of what it takes to run a side business if extra income was needed.

I am not advocating that students drop out of school or not attend college if they know they want to seek a career in business ownership. Higher education is important from both an academic and social standpoint. Some of life’s hardest lessons are learned at this time. Often life-long friends and helpful habits are established pre-full-time-employment.

But a small student run business is easy to create, very inexpensive, and could lead to a great education in entrepreneurship if it is executed and run with balance and attention to academic priorities.

Gaining the proper balance between business and school could be a challenge for most young people, especially if the business was actually profitable. But the lesson learned from the experience would be invaluable.

Balance in life, especially between business and home/family concerns is one of the toughest lessons a small business owner faces. Learning that lesson early on in one’s business career would be a very good thing!

This might be the perfect situation for a mentor or business coach (formal or even informal) with experience in setting up profitable businesses to take the student under his/her wing and provide the guidance necessary to help the student get going in online business.

To your online business success,

Steve Browne

www.SteveBrowneDirect.com

If you haven’t picked up a copy of this little book yet, go get one and look at solo business in a whole new light.

On my reading list for all online solo business owners is Michael LeBoeuf’s little paperback called The Perfect Business.

The corporate salaried employee stereotype with stock options, a hefty 401K, and holiday pay may soon become a relic of the past; in fact, it probably is already for nearly everyone.

Job security is no longer prevalent. Corporate downsizing, mergers, and take-overs can spell unemployment for even the most proficient and tenured of workers.  New technology and Internet automation have replaced the need for many small business employees.

LeBoeuf’s book, while a little dated now, is perfect for the employee that decides to leave structured business life and test the waters of self-employment. His writing is motivational, inspirational, and filled with solid reasons why solo business may be just the solution for those ousted from the 8-to-5 routine.

Michael LeBoeuf shows in his examples and illustrations how he has achieved the new American Dream of wealth and independence owning a small business.

He touts the wisdom and savings of starting and maintaining a company having no payroll obligations, no employee problems, and no heavy business debt to encumber the entrepreneur.

His key to home business success seems to be this: the owner must possess the proper go-it-alone mindset. He must think in positive and creative terms and in a less confining and rigid mental framework of what the perfect business must look like.  Mindset is so important as one contemplates earning a living in a whole new way!

Traditional thinking leads to traditional business and the usual business problems and “bloat!”.  Maintaining all the physical and financial business baggage of days gone by makes no sense and only serves to just handcuff the owner.

How we think, how we problem-solve, and how we understand our business and our customers is paramount to success.

LeBoeuf’s approach to home business operation is very practical, sensible, and strategic. It begins with the owner conserving his cash by keeping extremely low overhead and no employees (and their associated hassles, complaints, and financial commitments.)

His book covers such topics as choosing the right business for your skills and education, using digital information technologies to increase business execution and productivity, and thinking like a millionaire.

The Perfect Business is a mere 224 pages and a quick read, but it describes plainly and simply that there is no better business model, no more perfect business, than a solo niche business executed on the Internet and managed from home.

To your online business success,

Steve Browne

www.SteveBrowneDirect.com