Starting an Online Business All-in-One For Dummies®, 3rd Edition

Selling Information

The Internet holds so much information that simply finding the data you need the most is a time-consuming process. Some of the most successful businesses on the Web got their start by simply organizing the mountain of online content and making key information easier to find. The two most notable examples are Yahoo!, which developed one of the first indexes of Web sites, and Google, which created one of the most effective search engines ever.

When it comes to content, though, almost anything can be converted and packaged into some sellable format. More and more newspapers, such as The New York Times, charge a fee for accessing and reprinting articles from their extensive archives. Well-known magazines are readily following suit. But not just words are being sold. It's possible to charge money for music, games, videos (film), research data, mobile applications, and, well, you name it.

The subject of providing saleable content online holds so much promise that we dedicate an entire chapter to it. If this area interests you, Book IV, Chapter 3 shows you how to transition your expertise into e-books, Webinars, and other marketable online content-based products. Whether you create a Web site that organizes information or you sell articles or other information online, developing marketable content requires only four initial steps:

1. Originate.

   In this step, you create ...