Now, we’re going to talk about what form your information product is going to take.

There is a lot of talk these days about how video information products are hot and everyone prefers video.

Don’t believe it.

Video is perfect for some types of information products and not so hot for others. And not everyone loves video.

There can be drawbacks to presenting information in video form. People have limited time and short attention spans these days, and it’s a lot easier to scan an ebook and get what information you need than it is to scan a video. Then again some people claim the exact opposite.

It’s very hard however to fast forward an online video that is still loading to see if it contains the relevant information than it is to look at the contents page of an ebook.

So your video must be well made and get to the point immediately, with no fluff or lengthy introductions, or you will anger people and get a lot of refund requests, and people will not be likely to order from you again.

In a written product, people are a little more forgiving, because they can page forward quickly to get to the information that they need.

If you are talking about how to design a web site, for instance, they may already know some of what you are discussing. In an ebook they can skip what they already know; in a video they can’t, because they don’t know where on the video to find the part of the video that they are looking for.

However, some information products do naturally lend themselves to ebook form or audio form.

If you can interview an expert, like an internet marketing guru, an audio form works quite well. If you have an information product that does not rely on visuals (like teaching someone how to paint a portrait), the audio form works quite well.

An audio recording is also a good option for people who are visually impaired.

Video can definitely jazz up an information product. Say you have a cookbook; anyone can write a cookbook, but if you show each step of the cookbook process, along with a picture of the cookbook at the end, you present a much more tantalizing picture.

If you want to show how to train a dog, it’s easy to say a technique, but to show a video of an unruly dog, and then you using the training techniques, and then that same dog behaving perfectly and obeying commands…is very powerful.

So how do you actually go about creating your information products?

It can be done very cheaply and easily.

Your computer may already come with a word processing program which can save a document in Portable Document Format. (pdf) If not, there are numerous paid options available, or you can download Open Office, which is free and works with both Macintosh and PC platforms. CutePDF works with several Windows platforms including Vista.

To make a video, there are a number of free and low cost programs available.

Macintosh users can use imovie software, which also comes with Garageband software that is great for podcasts and audio recordings. It costs about $79.

Videospin is a free video editing program that works with Windows XP. Camstudio is a free video editing program that works with Windows XP.

Many Windows computers come with the program Windows Movie Maker, which may be all that you need.

Jingproject.com also has screen capture software and video editing software and works with Macs and Windows.  It is free; can’t beat that price!

Camtasia is a wonderful screen capture and video editing program that is very popular with internet marketers and works with Macs and Windows. It is pricey, however, currently at $299. It comes with a 30-day free trial.

Realistically speaking, the programs that cost money are going to have more features available then the free programs, but for the purposes of creating an information products, the free products are more than sufficient.

When you create a written information product, like an ebook or short report, you are going to want to save it both in regular format and also in PDF, so that you can export it.

When you create a video or audio product, you may want to lead in with a short audio jingle - 5 seconds or so - or you may just want to start right in with the information product.

Video editing programs will allow you to add in titles and transition effects to your video, such as fading from one screenshot to another. Keep in mind that when you add in transition effects it can take longer for the product to download.

Don’t be nervous about making a perfect video; purchasers of information products don’t expect a Hollywood production. They have a problem; they want someone to tell them how to solve it, quickly and with no distractions. They’re not looking for fancy special effects.

One thing that is important in making your product look good is getting an attractive digital cover made.

They generally cost between $25-$97 - you definitely shouldn’t have to pay more than that - and you can find good ecover designers on The Warrior Forum, elance.com, rentacoder, guru.com and other freelance sites.

You will need to tell the designer the theme of your information product, what your author name is (you can use your real name, use a pseudonym, or use no name at all) and what the product title is.

You can also tell him what color scheme you want.

If you are creating an ebook he’ll create an ebook cover. If you’re creating a video he’ll create a CD cover. These are just photographs that you will have on the site that sells your product; you’re probably not going to mail out actual CDs because your costs would go through the roof.

Click here to download your free information creation product how to ebook.