A couple of weeks ago - on my birthday no less - I dislocated my patella. In laymans terms that’s my kneecap. That oh so necessary bone that helps keep your leg moving properly.
I’ve always had funny acting kneecaps. On occassion they pop out of place. But they’ve always popped right back in. Not this time.
This time I lightly hit my kneed on the bed, it popped out, I fell on the empty socket, and it went back in. With the exception of the SEARING pain for the first 10 minutes, everything was fine over the next hour. Then all of sudden I sat down to use the WC, and my knee just went kaput. It looked like half a grapefruit had been implanted in my knee. And I have slender (but shapely - wink, wink) legs, so you could REALLY tell something was wrong.
As my saga progresses I go to the hospital and the doctors tell me my kneecap is out of place, and that I’ve probably torn some ligaments. They reduce the patella (set it back to its normal position), and send me home with a full leg brace, crutches, and a rousing version of “Happy Birthday.”
Oh yeah, and did I mention I was on vacation, outside of my home country? With my 4 year old in tow, nonetheless. Just call me Superwoman on crutches.
So anyway I’m sitting in my comfy rental wondering about the fate of my knee. Actually I was boo-hoo-ing my eyes out. When will I be able to walk… what can be done to prevent another severe dislocation… did I need surgery… questions, questions galore.
I hit the Internet looking for information on dislocated petellas. I wanted to get intimate with my ailment. There were several decent pages worth of sites on Google. But only 3 really good sites. And none of them seemed to fully answer all of my questions.
So what does this story have to do with creating information products?
Everything.
It just goes to show that topics can indeed be born from your real life experiences.
As of right now, I’m a desperate buyer for anything related to strengthening the knee, or explaining the finer points of knee dislocation. And there’s really no information for me to buy.
I admit, there’s probably not a huge demand for this type of information. This is truly a niche-y topic. But it’s an injury that will continue to occur forever. (Or at least until they start giving away bionic knees at birth.)
But here’s the grabber that could point to dollar signs. There were a few really good knee injury forums where lot’s of questions had been asked - and yet they hadn’t been answered. I mean people were pouring out their knee injury stories, clearly seeking advice, and they weren’t being responded to. That tells me people with similar injuries as mine are indeed seeking information, and not finding it.
I would have never noticed this under normal circumstances. I mean who really gives a furry cats butt about dislocated kneecaps? The only reason why you think about them is if you have one. And with everybody trying self-diagnose nowadays, the first place they turn outside of their physician is the Internet.
So for those of you who feel like you have nothing to contribute to the information publishing world - think again. Look at your own life. Your own hardships. Your injuries. Your failings.
Misery can be turned into hard, cold cash.
Alexis
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