Historically, marketers were able to identify competitors and implement strategies accordingly, but the online marketing environment is so fast-paced that a real urgency surrounds any product launch.

Piracy is perhaps the biggest problem that information product marketers face, and is the one that is often quoted as being the main obstacle to selling digitally delivered information products to China. There is a perception that whatever product is sold there will be copied, rebranded, and resold in no time.

But realistically, doesn't this happen now anyway - whatever country you are selling to? Sure, there are copyright laws in place in most countries, but who among us has the financial capabilities to pursue copyright infringers through the courts, sometimes international courts? The Microsofts, Googles and IBM may be able to do this, but the average marketer - no way.

So the strategy remains the same whether you are selling to China or to the US, UK or Australia. Make a great information product, pre-sell it, create some real interest from qualified prospects, and promote it well through forums, blogs, article marketing. Maintain the momentum and reap the rewards. If your product is copied - do what you can to stop it, but maintaining your credibility as the developer/author is sometimes the best you can do. Get hit, make a hit, and then plateau - seems to be the way it goes.

Now having addressed the piracy issue, let's ignore the naysayers for a while, and take a closer look at the OPPORTUNITIES in China.

The state network information center of China is the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC)and in July 2008 it released a "Statistical Survey Report on the Internet Development in China". It's a big report, but here are some key points that should make internet marketers, particularly of information products, sit up and take notice.

253 million Internet users

That's two hundred and fifty three MILLION internet users in China! Clearly this puts China in the number one spot for internet usage worldwide. That figure is an increase of 91 million from June 2007 (43 million of this in the six months to June 2008).

84.7% of users connect via Broadband

At the end of 2007 this equated to 168 million, the figure has increased to 214 million. There is a massive 84.7 million individual computers connecting to the internet from homes (dispelling the myth that most internet access in China is via internet cafes).

73.05 million access the internet via mobile phones

Though certainly not their main means of internet access, this is a growing trend. Demographics? 86% of these people are under 30 years of age and 39.7% are students.

Penetration rate of 19.1%

On a population figure of 1.325 billion, this a LOT of people. Sure, when compared to neighboring countries (Japan 68.4%, and South Korea 71.2%), 19.1% is not a lot, but the growth rates in China will see it approach the world average of 21.1% by the end of 2008.

158 million registered IPv4IP addresses

This represents a 33.for the year to June 2008, a 7% growth rate. With 1.91 million websites in China, 71.4% are .cn websites.

E-commerce

The report clearly shows that online shopping is a growing trend in China. 63.29 million people (25%) have shopped online, with the major cities claiming most of the shoppers.

Another one of those myths to be blown out of the water by this report is the lack of online payment and banking facilities in China. Facts: 22.Online payment is used by 5% (which is 23.79 million people) and 23.4% use online banking. These figures represent a growth rate of a whopping 71.7%.

Online education has grown to 18.5% of Chinese internet users becoming involved: 46.69 million people on the path to self-improvement, online.

Perhaps you have an information product that deserves a slice of the Chinese pie?