Over the years I've worked with very many coaches and consultants who make their money by selling blocks of time.

This is great but anyone who's done it - also knows that when they stop working (and selling time) the money soon dries up too. This predicament is not only potentially dangerous, especially for smaller firms, but can leave you feeling trapped by your own success. There's often never any rest without that guilty, sinking, feeling that while you're not working you're not earning.

So, on top of selling time, I encourage people to turn their knowledge into an information product so they can earn additional money even while they're sleeping or having a well-earned rest, enjoying a hobby or reading a book.

Strangely though, many of these people who are so good at selling time come completely unstuck when it comes to doing the same with products. In fact, one high-earning coach I spoke to recently said, "I think you will find that selling products takes a lot more time and effort than selling services."

Well does he have a point?

If you're interested in turning what you know into a book, e-book, e-course or audio programme to add kudos to your main business and to bring in a bit more money each month then today's article will come in handy.

Selling products doesn't necessarily take a lot more time and effort than selling services - though the rules are very different...

If you have an appropriate plan (and a good target) it's very likely they'll be just as difficult/easy as each other - though making a lot of money quickly from products is very often harder than people think.

Making lots of money out of products does take a bit longer and it's unlikely that a handful of CDs and books will make you into an overnight millionaire as many of these "turn your knowledge into a million quid" internet marketing "gurus" would have you believe.

An Example... We sell information products for 15 each on average (though we've successfully sold some for 100+) whereas I can sell time for 650-1000 a day (excluding speaking engagements where this rate can be hourly). Therefore the 'quantity-quality' ratio is very different between the two. You need much bigger numbers to make products pay off.

With products of a comparatively low price you have to play a big numbers game (where the quality of the relationship is basically transactional). So it's the high quantity of people you need to reach that can make selling products seem harder.

Now with high value services, you may only need to sell a handful of days (where the quality of the relationship is way beyond a mere transaction) a month, to earn a decent income - which makes selling time seem easier.

Now, if you didn't already know, I stopped selling time (and taking on new clients) early in 2004 to focus on producing and selling information products instead.

So, why did I choose to stop selling time to focus 100% on products if I can make plenty of money selling time?

Because you can only effectively maintain a set number of high-quality (high-time-demand) clients without having to take on more people. This sets a limit (based on hours you're willing to work) on your own personal earning potential. Transactional clients (people who buy a product) don't need the same time/resource (ie personal attention, accountability - beyond a product guarantee or high skill level) which vastly increases your overall earning potential from products. You can even earn money while you're playing ping-pong, flying a kite, or anything else you like to do with your spare time.

But the key distinction here is "earning potential". Intellectually, selling products seems a nice and easy way to earn income - but realising the "potential" is flippin' difficult as I've found out.

After focusing on products for a few years now we're finally earning as much selling products as we were when we were just selling time - but now there are only 2 full time people to share the money with rather than 11!

So anyone thinking that giving up your consulting or coaching business and just doing products is an easy way to get rich - it isn't - but when you've got the revenue coming in from almost passive sources then the ceiling on your overall earning potential can increase beyond the number of hours you are willing to exchange for cash.

And for me, time (and the freedom to spend it however you wish) is far more important than overall income.

If you're keen to write the next business bestseller - here are a few resources that might come in handy...

* Get Yourself Published - Suzan St Maur

* Release The Book Within - Jo Parfitt

* Lean Marketing Press - Our 50-50 Publishing Deal