Cognition #15: Building real-time info products

Back to doing what I love the most: Writing and sending Cognition to you!

Welcome back, folks!

Before we begin, there is a slight change in the newsletter format.

Here are a couple of awesome things you can look forward to:

1. Cognition is weekly again! You'll receive a new issue every Saturday.

2. You'll get to read four issues monthly—three short editions and one special edition.

Note: Will focus on one elemental topic and elaborate on it in the short editions (Like this issue.)

On that note, let's get started with today's edition.

We'll talk about:

1. Building REAL-TIME info products

2. Non-Technical aka Fun Segment

What are REAL-TIME info products?

Honestly, I don't even know if that's a term. (But I use it to sound cool, :p)

I define REAL-TIME info products as products you build while you're still working on the project.

It is similar to documentation. The only difference is you document not to use it for reference or record progress, but with a defined goal of converting information into a sellable product.

To explain this even better, here is a product I've been working on:

LinkedIn 0-10k ebook:

The initial phase is challenging for a creator. There will be setbacks, self-doubt, and one doesn't know if they wish to pursue content creation further.

I felt it'd be a great roadmap if I documented my journey from Day 1 as a creator and shared it with my audience, mentioning what worked and what didn't for me on my path to 10k followers.

But here's the catch: I don't have 10k followers yet.

I stand at 6.1k followers at the time I write this issue, and I've documented everything I've done from 0 to 6k: strategies, pathways, personal life, networking, and mental health.

So this is how real-time building will help me:

Yes, I didn't get to 10k yet, but I'll have the information ready when I reach the mark. Then all I need to do is refine and publish the ebook.

In fact, I have the outline, structure of chapters, and even a few chapters written.

But why build in real-time?

It implies you don't need to finish your work to make a product out of it—you can work and build info-product simultaneously.

That's how I'm creating an ebook in real-time as and when I encounter challenges, apply strategies, and experiment with solutions.

Why do 'I' build in real-time?

I do it for two major reasons:

A. Content Distribution:

I'm anyhow documenting my journey and churning out my experiences in the form of SM content and newsletter. So why not add a little more elaborative value and make an ebook/Notion template out of it?

It allows me to distribute my content in various forms, expands my content business, and earns me a few dollars.

You don't necessarily need to distribute content in real time, but it's an efficient way of building as you work.

B. No dilution of experience:

If I write from scratch after I reach 10k followers, I might not remember the entire journey precisely. Or I might miss out on a few small but important things.

So even if I'm not drafting content, just noting down bullet points helps me have a large chunk of content to which I can give shape and structure.

What am I looking forward to?

The more I work with brands as a freelancer, the more entrepreneurship and product building fascinates me. At this stage, I'm curious about product building and selling. Gotta see where it takes me.

A note for you:

"If you have something to share with the world, please start building your products. If not anything, do it at least to experience the joy of building.

And if you do it in real-time, even better!"

That's it from technical segment. Let's hop on to the fun part now.

Non-Technical aka Fun Segment!

Favourite Quote from a book

A friend once told me: ' Trying to be exactly like someone is a waste of who you are.'

It made me realize there is a difference between imitation and instilling.

Imitation is when you like someone and do things exactly as they do without understanding how or why they do it.

Instilling happens when you admire someone's work, understand their mechanism behind it, and then apply it in your life to inspect if it suits you.

You know what's good and what's not.

Movies/Shows I loved recently

When Lal Singh Chaddha was released, I realized I never watched Forest Gump. The next thing I know, I had a Dosa on my plate and was enjoying the movie.

If you've no plans this weekend, I highly recommend watching Forest Gump. It's beautiful.

Originally made in English. Available on Amazon Prime and Netflix.

Trailer here 👇🏻

Tweets I loved

YouTube video I loved

Haven't been YouTubing much recently, but I'm watching this show on Netflix about Minimalism. So far, it's interesting.

Song I'm listening to on a loop

The romantic music in this film, Swamy Ra Ra >>>

(I don't even have a track of how many Telugu songs I've been recommending to you all, lol. I hope you're loving them.)

And it's curtains for Cognition #15!

Will get back next week with another short issue.

Also, I'm resuming the newsletter from a break. So it'd be really helpful if you could share about Cognition on your socials. TIA. 🤗

See ya!

Take care, stay safe, and build real-time info products!

Love,

Vikra Vardhan.

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