Eben Pagan reveals the fundamental formula for selling information products online by focusing on results and value rather than the product itself. He explains how understanding the customer's valuing process and positioning specific, tangible outcomes can transform $20-50 products into high-ticket offers worth hundreds or thousands of dollars.
Formula Selling Information Products
Eben opens by explaining why selling information products online puts entrepreneurs in an advantageous position. Unlike traditional businesses, information product creators can test rapidly with minimal investment, iterate quickly when something doesn't work, and pivot completely without major financial losses.
The fundamental insight that customers don't want products - they want results. Eben reveals that while customers think they're buying information or coaching, they're actually buying specific outcomes and value, which is the abstract driving force behind all purchasing decisions.
Eben explores the concept of value as a nominalization - not a static thing that exists, but a dynamic process of humans valuing things. He emphasizes understanding the customer's internal valuing process, including their emotions, mental pictures, and feedback loops when considering solutions.
When you match your expertise to the customer's highest value point, you create products that require minimal marketing. Eben warns against 'putting lipstick on a pig' - using marketing to sell mediocre products instead of creating genuinely high-value offerings first.
Customers want observable, measurable outcomes rather than abstract improvements. Eben explains how positioning specific results like losing 20 pounds or achieving a zero credit card balance dramatically increases perceived value and pricing potential from $50 to thousands of dollars.
“If you just try to create an information product and sell it, you might be able to sell it for $20 or $50. If you're selling a result, a tangible, measurable result that the person can expect to experience in the real world and that's what they think they're buying, you dramatically increase your chances of selling that information product... you increase your probability of selling much higher priced and higher value information products that could be in the hundreds to thousands of dollars”
— Eben Pagan▶ 2:37
Focus on selling results instead of products. When you position your information product as delivering a specific, tangible result that customers can expect to experience, you dramatically increase pricing potential from $20-50 to hundreds or thousands of dollars.
“The formula is that customers don't want products. What they want is results... The customer doesn't want a product. They don't want coaching. They don't want techniques. They want a specific outcome.”
— Eben Pagan▶ 1:23
Customers don't want products, coaching, or techniques - they want specific outcomes and results. Behind that, they want value, which is the abstract driving force behind all purchasing decisions. The key is understanding that they're buying the result, not the information itself.
“if we can find that thing that really is where all the value is, and then take all of our knowledge and all of our experience as experts, as professionals, and apply it to that one thing, that's when we create a product that sells itself”
— Eben Pagan▶ 9:49
Find the highest value thing you can create for your customer by understanding their internal valuing process. When you match your expertise to their specific challenge in a way that creates maximum value, you create a product that customers want to buy as soon as they hear about it.
“The highest value types of results are specific, tangible, physical, out here in reality, observable... if there were a a jury sitting around here at a table in a circle, they would all look at it and say, yep. That happened.”
— Eben Pagan▶ 15:40
Promise specific, tangible, physical results that can be observed and verified. Customers want measurable outcomes like losing 20 pounds, having a zero credit card balance, or finding a romantic partner - not abstract improvements like 'feeling better.'
“what most people are trying to do is put lipstick on a pig... their marketing is the lipstick. We don't wanna do that... We wanna create super high value products that are tailored specifically for the prospect”
— Eben Pagan▶ 10:39
The biggest mistake is trying to 'put lipstick on a pig' - using marketing to sell mediocre products instead of creating genuinely high-value products first. You should create super high-value products tailored specifically for your prospects before focusing on marketing.
“ask, okay, how are they valuing the challenge that they're dealing with right now? How would they value the solution to the challenge that they're dealing with? And what's what's that internal strategy or process that they're using?”
— Eben Pagan▶ 9:14
Study your customer's internal valuing process - how they think about their challenges, what emotions arise, and what feedback loops get created. Ask how they're valuing their current situation and the solution, then drill down to find the highest value thing you can offer them.
A framework for transforming low-priced information products into high-value offers by focusing on results and understanding customer psychology
Shift from product to results focus
Stop positioning your offering as an information product and start positioning it as a specific, tangible result the customer will experience.
Study customer valuing process
Understand how your prospects think about their challenges, what emotions arise when they picture problems, and what internal feedback loops get created.
Identify the highest value point
Find the one magic leverage point where all the value is for your customer - the specific outcome they most want to achieve.
Make results specific and observable
Promise outcomes that are tangible, physical, and measurable - results that a jury could unanimously agree occurred.
Match expertise to value
Apply all your knowledge and experience to that one highest-value thing to create a product that sells itself.
Avoid the lipstick-on-pig trap
Create genuinely high-value products first rather than trying to use marketing to sell mediocre offerings.
Information product businesses have unique advantages including rapid testing capabilities, minimal investment requirements, and easy iteration when something doesn't work
Eben explains that unlike traditional businesses, information product creators can test quickly with little investment, modify products easily, reformat content, test new niches, and pivot completely without major losses
Customers don't want products - they want specific outcomes and results, with value being the abstract driving force behind all purchasing decisions
Eben states the core formula: customers don't want coaching or techniques, they want specific outcomes. Value is the abstract thing behind results that acts like 'the person behind the curtain running the machine that gets people to make decisions'
Selling results instead of products dramatically increases pricing potential from $20-50 to hundreds or thousands of dollars
Eben explains that if you just try to create and sell an information product, you might sell it for $20-50, but if you're selling a tangible, measurable result that the person expects to experience in the real world, you dramatically increase chances of selling much higher priced products in the hundreds to thousands of dollars
Value is a nominalization - an abstract concept that doesn't actually exist as a static thing, but rather represents the dynamic process of humans valuing things
Eben's mentor Wyatt Woodsmall explained that value is a nominalization in neurolinguistic programming - an abstract noun taken out of the world and frozen into a concept. Value comes from and is the result of humans valuing things, not a static unchanging thing
Understanding the customer's internal valuing process - their emotions, mental pictures, and feedback loops - is key to finding the highest value thing you can create for them
Eben recommends exploring how customers value their challenges and solutions by understanding their internal strategy: what emotions arise when they picture problems, what thoughts those emotions trigger, and what feedback loops get established
When you match your expertise to the customer's highest value point, you create a product that sells itself without requiring extensive marketing
Eben explains that when you find the thing where all the value is and apply all your knowledge and experience to that one thing, you create a product that as soon as the customer hears about it, doesn't require a lot of selling because if they knew it existed, they would want to buy it
Most people try to 'put lipstick on a pig' by using marketing to sell mediocre products instead of creating high-value products first
Eben quotes Ralph who taught him that most people are trying to put lipstick on a pig, where their marketing is the lipstick. Instead, you want to create super high value products tailored specifically for the prospect that meet their needs
Customers want specific, tangible, physical results that can be observed and verified by others, not abstract improvements like 'feeling better'
Eben explains that while teachers assume customers want to feel better, customers actually want observable outcomes: the debt collector to stop calling, losing 20 pounds by taking one pill, getting a credit card balance of zero, or holding hands with a romantic partner in public
John Carlton's 'Appeal-O-Meter' shows that the less work and time required, the higher the appeal and perceived value, with customers wanting 'magic' solutions
Eben references John Carlton's graph showing that more work and time equals lower appeal and perceived value, while less work and time equals higher appeal, reaching the category John calls 'magic' - which is what people really want
To maximize value, become more specific rather than more abstract, focusing on tangible external results that a jury could unanimously agree occurred
Eben instructs to drill down into specificity, not become more abstract, and think about things that are tangible and external - results where if a jury sat around a table they would all look at it and say 'yep, that happened' and agree on it
Information product businesses have unique advantages including rapid testing capabilities, minimal investment requirements, and easy iteration when something doesn't work
▶ 0:31Customers don't want products - they want specific outcomes and results, with value being the abstract driving force behind all purchasing decisions
▶ 1:23Selling results instead of products dramatically increases pricing potential from $20-50 to hundreds or thousands of dollars
▶ 2:37Value is a nominalization - an abstract concept that doesn't actually exist as a static thing, but rather represents the dynamic process of humans valuing things
▶ 7:02Understanding the customer's internal valuing process - their emotions, mental pictures, and feedback loops - is key to finding the highest value thing you can create for them
▶ 9:14When you match your expertise to the customer's highest value point, you create a product that sells itself without requiring extensive marketing
▶ 9:49Most people try to 'put lipstick on a pig' by using marketing to sell mediocre products instead of creating high-value products first
▶ 10:39Customers want specific, tangible, physical results that can be observed and verified by others, not abstract improvements like 'feeling better'
▶ 13:22John Carlton's 'Appeal-O-Meter' shows that the less work and time required, the higher the appeal and perceived value, with customers wanting 'magic' solutions
▶ 14:49To maximize value, become more specific rather than more abstract, focusing on tangible external results that a jury could unanimously agree occurred
▶ 15:40Claim: “Customers want your information products, coaching, or techniques”
Reframe: Customers don't want products - they want specific results and outcomes, with value being the underlying driver
Claim: “Value is a fixed, measurable thing that exists in products”
Reframe: Value is a nominalization - it doesn't exist as a static thing but represents the dynamic process of humans valuing things
Claim: “Customers want to feel better and know their problem is solved”
Reframe: Customers want specific, tangible, physical results they can observe and verify
Claim: “Good marketing can sell any product effectively”
Reframe: Most people try to 'put lipstick on a pig' - using marketing to sell mediocre products instead of creating genuinely high-value products first
“customers don't want products. What they want is results.”
“if we can find that thing that really is where all the value is, and then take all of our knowledge and all of our experience as experts, as professionals, and apply it to that one thing, that's when we create a product that sells itself”
“what most people are trying to do is put lipstick on a pig”
“The highest value types of results are specific, tangible, physical, out here in reality, observable”
“That's what they want. That's what they think they want is magic.”
Secret Making Information Value
Discover the secret framework that transforms ordinary information into high-value knowledge products that customers actually want to buy.
Powerful Communication Strategies
Learn how to increase the perceived value of your information products by 10x to 100x through refined communication strategies that make customers feel like your content was created specifically for them.
Big Mega Niches
Discover the three mega-niches that account for the vast majority of successful information products and why they're rooted in human survival, reproduction, and self-actualization.
Coaching Strategies
Business Frameworks
Common Mistakes
Human beings don't know how to value information - it's not obvious to us how much information is worth, so the best information marketers focus on creating packages with high perceived value and translating that value effectively
Eben explains that successful information marketers who make the most money excel at creating information packages with high perceived value and translating that value to customers
Create standalone concepts that are understandable all by themselves - complete modular units of knowledge that set context, provide techniques, and enable immediate action
Eben describes creating 'complete stand alone bodies of knowledge' that include context setup, techniques, metaphors, examples, and action steps so listeners can understand and take action immediately
You can increase perceived value by 10x to 100x by refining your communication and learning skills to frame everything as having much more value.
Some books sell for $10 while others sell for $1,000 - the difference is in how value is communicated, not the information itself.
Adopt the mindset that you're teaching one person alone, not a group - talk to individuals who are experiencing your content by themselves from their perspective.
When someone says 'hi, all of you out there,' an individual listener thinks 'I'm not all of you out there, I'm an individual' and the connection breaks.
