New In The Business

Throughout my internet marketing education this year, I have read and received advice and suggestions on the “best” way to succeed and generate income streams. While my first choice was affiliate marketing due to it’s perceived ease of setup and maintenance, I soon discovered that creating my own products for specific, well-targeted markets was not only as profitable, but also offers substantially more control and options.

With that said, around September I began to obtain information that explains the hows, dos, and dont’s regarding what’s called Niche Marketing and Niche Product Creation. This is also around the time in which I posted the article regarding Performing Keyword Research. Since that process was new, I found it to be exciting, time consuming, and eventually unhelpful.

I read up some more, listened to a fa listew podcasts, and decided to give the keyword research another try. Based off of the material I studied from, I compiled a list of the key steps each resource provided, then adjusted a few minor things as I saw fit. This was primarily an experimental measure to see if I was maybe missing some minor details I had either ignored or overlooked.

Long story short…..I nailed down both the keywords and the niche I wanted to target!! Here were the keys I learned from this process.

• Make a list on paper, word doc or excel spreadsheet of any and all passionate interests, hobbies, or topics you are involved with, know about, or even want to know about. I suggest doing this task more than once and really taking it seriously!! I didn’t focus properly the first couple of times. When making this list, put down EVERYTHING you think of. Also, when you put down a broad topic like cars, try to drill down to the most specific areas of cars you like such as classic corvettes, 50’s era Chevy’s, fine tuning Mitsubishi Eclipses, etc. Repeating this for each topic you put down will help you define this list and maybe even discover a niche for you early in the process! If if helps out, I’ve provided a sample spreadsheet based exactly on the one I personally used.

• Next you need to define the following at a minimum for each prospective niche idea you put down: Passion level about the topic, how much you either know, or are willing to learn about the topic.

• In addition you will want to define the possible products you could create around the topic (ebook, newsletter, software, membership site, audio, video, training, etc.)
• At this point, I suggest you go back over your completed list including the information you inserted for bullet #2 and select 6-10 of the best items you prefer based off of all the criteria defined in the list.

With the information provided in your list, I would then take the 6-10 items selected in the last bullet, and use them as keywords when following the instruction provided in Brian Edmundson’s Keyword Research article HERE.

As mentioned earlier, when defining a niche market to create your own products in, you may have to repeat this process a few times. I personally had to repeat the process several times over a week period. The key is to take the entire process very seriously, and stick with it in the event it doesn’t seem to work the first time or two.

If you feel that your list does not seem to be very interesting, feel free to ask others (friends, family co-workers, etc.) what they’re interested in for additional inspiration. I personally found some other niches that I want to look into when I’m ready for a new niche challenge.

Once I found the niche, the next issue was to define what product I could create the quickest for the niche. Due to cost concerns and a need for speed, I decided ebook creation was the route to go. First lesson learned about ebook creation? Do not sit down and just start writing!! I know a lot about sports, but writing about it proved to be a big challenge when I realized I want people to buy this. So I utilized another tool suggested during my studies…the use of a mind map. Using the Mind Map application Freemind, I defined each chapter of the book, including title, topics, and book structure. For each of the topics, I made minor notes to address what I wanted to cover in each chapter.

During creation of the ebook, it became apparent that I would need some sample photos, and illustrations to bring the content to life and provide the reader with additional clarity on my information. This resulted in my seeking some outside help, which delayed the release of the product, but will definitely enhance both sales, and product value.

Niche Marketing definitely has additional learning steps I’m adjusting to, but they easily require their own post for proper coverage. I’ll let you know about them really soon!

Here are some samples for you to use if you like. To view the mind map you will need to download the free application Freemind:

Potential Niche Spreadsheet Sample

Mind Map Sample

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As previously mentioned, I’ve discovered that becoming and staying successful in internet marketing requires continuous education.  One of the best ways to get this education is to attend Internet Marketing seminars.  The Midwest Super Conference, hosted by Jeff Mills was my first foray into a more formal internet marketing education, and I came away very pleased with the experience.  First of all, the event was very professionally done in my opinion by Jeff and his staff.  Upon arrival and registration, I was provided with a kit that included information regarding the event such as full business biographies of each speaker, note taking materials, among others.  In addition, Jeff was broadcasting the seminar live over the Internet!  I thought this was a cool feature for those that couldn’t make it, and it allows one that does not have the money to purchase the ticket ($997) and travel/lodging arrangements to “attend” a seminar and absorb the information.

I must compliment Jeff Mills in his selection of the speakers.  They each covered specific areas of internet marketing, which provides the attendee a broad range of exposure to the power of competent marketing.  The format of each speaker was largely the same, and adapted to their content.  The format largely involved each speaker providing a quick background on themselves that often included what their company does, how much money they’ve made in the last 12 months or more, what they teach, how they teach it, and why they’re qualified to educate you.  For the most part each speaker had 90 minutes or so to cover that, and provide some content relevant to most attendees to take action on immediately.

In the last 5-10 minutes of each presentation, the speaker would provide the audience with a chance to purchase a package of their products that usually included a period of personal coaching from the speaker (ranging from a phone consultation to weekly teleconferences).  This proved to be a big selling point with the audience, and I would have to say that it would make the purchases worth it based on their cost and the desire for most the audience to become successful quickly.

Among the speakers there, my personal favorites were Pat Lovell, Matt Bacak, Larry Benet, and JJ Childers.  Pat Lovell and Matt Bacak’s presentation were so appealing to me personally, that I wish I could afford to buy both of their products presented at the event.

Speaking of money, that’s the one harsh reality learned about these seminars.  Each product offered by the speakers except for 2 were offered at $1997.  Now I’m all for these guys getting all the money they can, however I found these prices to be largely out my range at the time of the seminar.  Notice I did not say that the products were/were not worth the prices.  I felt given that each speaker personally led the buyer on tele-seminars, and coaching classes, the chance for success would actually rather high.

One of the keys I was told by other successful marketers was that it is important to network with the other attendees & speakers, to share information, ideas, and possibly luck upon Joint Venture prospects.  Jeff Mills was really creative in this regard because he provided closed lunch and dinner sessions for the attendees which encouraged attendee & speaker interaction.  Without question, this was the most successful part of the trip for me.

During the lunches and dinners, I got to have a couple of extended conversations with Pat Lovell who is a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) guru.  In addition to discussing SEO, I got to know him a bit as a guy; which only enhanced my respect and comfort level with his knowledge and personality.  He had a lot to offer and didn’t seem to hold back once questions were asked.  More importantly, he demonstrated a high patience level when the questions came his way.

I also had the esteemed privilege of meeting Jason Pearson (creator of Perfect Wealth Formula) during one of the dinners.  I could write a page on this experience, but to keep it simple Jason is a quiet, extremely confident guy that knows his stuff and willingly spills his guts when asked.  What started as a conversation based on small talk, turned into an impromptu Q&A session that covered all topics ranging from affiliate marketing how-to, product creation, article writing, blog marketing, network marketing, merchant accounts, his new products, clickbank, employee management, and others.  Needless to say I took a ton of notes.  My conversation with Jason ended up running until the entire dining area was empty and 3+ hours passed!

Let’s just say that I am an evangelist of Jason now and would recommend to anyone that they pick up any of his products, the guy is a saint and lives to put money in people’s pockets.  In fact, the minute I had the money,  I recently had the privilege (and the money) to purchase his latest product ($997) which includes a series of tele-seminars conducted by him, explaining the how-to’s behind many of  marketers biggest challenges.  I can’t wait to begin that process which is next week.  I will report on my results from this product experience later.

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