This time I’m sharing with you a strategy that not many people know about but is one that we use with our clients (and our own businesses) to PROVE that a product will sell BEFORE spending the time, money, and effort to produce it.

In fact, this same strategy is used by many BIG corporations to avoid developing products that just will not sell.

What would it be worth to you to KNOW that your product will be a BIG HIT before spending any of your valuable resouces to create it?

This video shows you how …

Click here to watch the video

Go ahead and try it out, then come back and post what you think of this strategy on the blog.

It may seem un-natural at first, but if you try it just one time, I know you’ll be hooked for life.

Enjoy!

Chuck Anderson
Internet Marketing Center

A couple weeks ago we held a special training on how to profit from
selling information products where we revealed for the first time some
powerful strategies that were once reserved only for our advanced
mentoring clients.

Since every one could use some extra help now and then, I thought I
would release a few clips of this training to our newsletter
subscribers in hopes that it will give you some new ideas about
building your online business.

Here’s what we talked about –

1. 7 types of information products that you can sell on your website for profit (and new technology that has made this easier than ever)
2. A special “pre-selling” process that will save you time, money, and effort (and prevent you from producing products that don’t sell)
3. Step by step instructions on how to create high-quality ebooks in 7 days or less (I doubt you’ve ever seen this one before)

Click here to watch video #1

Go ahead, watch it now and then post your comments on the blog to let me know what you think.

Have a profitable week.

Chuck Anderson
Internet Marketing Center

• What are you interested in?
• What are you passionate about?
• What subject or topic do you have a lot of knowledge about?
• What are people always coming to you for advice about?

Whether it’s expertise you picked up on the job, skills you developed through a hobby, or interest in a subject you’ve long wanted to explore further, just about every single skill or interest you have is something that can become the foundation for a successful business.

And if you base your business on something you’re already familiar with, you’ll be building on your existing knowledge. And that means you’ll be able to focus on developing your online marketing knowledge and avoid the steep learning curve and research involved in starting a business in a field you don’t already know about.

You’ll also be able to speak knowledgeably and credibly about your product. Once your business is up and running, you’ll need to prove that you’re the expert to turn to when people are trying to solve their problem.

This will be much easier if you start with something you already know, then use the tools we’ll give you to successfully promote your idea on the Internet — and profit from it!

a. “But what ARE my skills and interests?”

Occasionally our customers tell us, “I don’t have any unique skills or knowledge.”

That’s baloney! If you honestly believe you have no valuable skills or knowledge, you’re selling yourself short. We’re certain that absolutely every single person reading this book has some kind of knowledge or skill that could be the foundation of a successful business.

Carefully consider your own interests, hobbies, and areas of expertise. If you find it difficult to pinpoint exactly what these are, don’t worry! You’re not alone. A lot of people have trouble figuring out what makes them “tick.”

You simply need to stop and think about your life experiences. Create a list of all the jobs you’ve ever had… all the hobbies you’ve ever pursued… all the volunteer work you’ve ever done… all the times you’ve helped someone and felt really good about it… and all the things you’re interested in or think you’re good at.

If you feel like you’re on the spot and forgetting something, don’t just give up! Keep a note pad handy and jot down things as they occur to you — and remember you can always add more later! Sometimes the best ideas show up in the weirdest places, so be ready when inspiration strikes!

b. Explore your skills and interests

In order to pinpoint where your areas of skill and interest lie, write down your answers to the questions listed below. These questions are designed to get you thinking about what really matters to YOU.

Passions and Skills Questionnaire

1. Do you play any sports? Which ones?
2. If you had a million dollars and a week’s worth of free time, what would you do? List the first activities that come to mind.
3. What websites do you visit when you’re just “surfing around” online? What topics do these sites cover?
4. Have you ever won a trophy or award? What for?
5. Have you ever been recognized for a contribution of services? What did you do?
6. Do you have pets? What kinds? If yes, did you train them a certain way? Shows? Clothes? Hunting? Tricks?
7. Do you have kids? What do you like best about being a parent? What do you find most challenging?
8. Do you have any specialized education? Have you ever taken a class in a subject like pottery or sailing?
9. Have you ever volunteered anywhere? What did you learn through this experience?
10. What lifetime accomplishment are you most proud of? What did you learn from this experience?
11. Do you have firsthand knowledge of any medical illnesses or issues? If so, which ones?
12. Do you collect anything? If so, what?
13. What television shows do you enjoy? What kind of music do you listen to? Do you ever attend theater events or other events related to the arts?
14. Is there anything you’ve ever really wanted to do or learn about, but just haven’t had the time for?
15. At a party, when you’re talking to a stranger, what’s your “fall back” topic of conversation?
16. At work or with friends, on what subject are you the “go-to” person?
17. What is you academic background? Any degrees or certificates?
18. What was your favorite job? What was your role?
19. What would your best friend say you’re best at?
20. Have you done any renovations to your house yourself? Have you built or designed anything you’re proud of?

Want My Feedback?

Would you like me to review these with you to see if any of them have any REAL business potential?   Click here to email me your answers and to schedule a free 15 minute phone consultation to find out the fastest and easiest possible way to take advantage of profit opportunities that exist in these areas of interest.

Have a great weekend!

Chuck Anderson
Director of Marketing, IMC

Time and time again, our mentors see people trying to “help” their niche research by starting off with an interest that’s too specific. Instead of “horses” they might start with “training horses” or “horse riding” or “horse tack.”

That’s going to prevent them from finding the small, unexpected niches they wouldn’t have thought of… and neither would anyone else!

Sometimes this is the worst approach you can take as it cuts out a lot of opportunity you might have otherwise found gold in!

We’ll show you why it can occasionally be a GREAT IDEA to start your research as broad as possible and THEN let the research carry you down new paths.

Case in point…we found the following niches out of ONE SEARCH!

• Horse behavior/horse barn plans
• Repair Trojan horse virus
• Horse gain weight

You will notice fairly quickly that there’s only one thing these phrases have in common, and that’s the word “horse.” But look at the range of subjects they can lead to!

(Here’s a small screen cap of the search results with this in mind):

We arrived at these three very different niches by starting with that one, broad interest word which was “horses”. We then skimmed through the results to find a few interesting-looking search subjects.

Granted, someone interested in horses might know nothing whatsoever about “repairing a trojan horse virus.” But if they had started on “riding horses” they would never have stumbled on the problem of “how to get a skinny horse to gain weight”, or “how to build a stable”.

So the moral of the story is…don’t give up the gold! Don’t over think the initial research – and do approach the results with an open mind.

Here’s the Step By Step Process To Niche Finding With This In Mind:

1. Start with a word that describes one of your passions, skills, or interests in hopes that you’ll find a good niche that’s close to your heart. In this case the word was “horses.” Just one word.
2. Next step is to combine the interest word with “how” (ie: how horse) and see what comes up in the keyword research tool.
   • NOTE: We recommend the Legacy Version of Google Adwords Keyword Tool for keyword research (since it produces real Google search results and its free).
3. Once results are in, review the WHOLE list. *Don’t skip this step.
4. Get a pen and paper and start writing down ACTION ORIENTED searches that regularly show up in this list.
   • This critical research step reveals searches where the “majority” is trying to find out how to do something — in other words, solve a problem.
5. Then you can make a decision about which of these action oriented subjects you wish to explore further. You must validate the market next. Then once confirmed viable you can go to town with product development, salescopy and web development.

But wait…if you are asking how you explore your potential niche ideas further, let alone validate them and get the site up, we do have a solution:

You can do all of this through BeBiz. It’s a simple “point and click” tool to creating a professionally designed website, complete with compelling salescopy and the right amount of SEO to encourage plenty of qualified visitors to the site…

It’s incredibly easy to use – - even if you have no business or computer experience.

BeBiz automates all five of the necessary stages of building a new Internet business:

Click here to get your business started the RIGHT WAY with BeBiz today!

There are MILLIONS of businesses active on the Web today. But the number of businesses that are aiming directly at a market is FAR fewer. And of those, how many have done research to ensure that the market they’re targeting actually EXISTS?

Well, the number just got MUCH smaller!

The true secret to creating a successful business is to find a market to target BEFORE you build a business. That way, you know from the beginning that you have a potential customer base out there looking for exactly what you have to offer.

So how would we define a niche market? A niche market is a group of people looking for the solution to a specific problem… ideally, a problem that YOU can solve with a product or service!

It’s quite simple: if no one is looking for what you’re offering, you’re going to have a hard time selling it!

If you ARE targeting a niche market and haven’t seen too much success, you may be targeting a market that is too broad — which leads to an overload of competition. On the other hand, you could be targeting a niche that is far too narrow — which leads to a lack of customers!

The key is to find the “sweet spot” where your ideal audience lies.

For example, if you type “garden plants” into Google, you get 20,900,000 results. The odds of standing out in that search are extremely low, especially since you’re up against big gardening companies or wholesalers who can offer more products at a lower price than any small business can.

However, “rock garden plants for warm climates” cuts that number down to a mere 98,500 results — which represents a dramatic reduction in potential competition… with a large potential target group still remaining!

By addressing more specific concerns or needs on your site — without narrowing your focus so sharply that you only have two potential customers! — you create a connection with your visitors that encourages them to buy from you… instead of looking elsewhere.

Your first step to finding an active, targetable niche is to use a keyword research tool like Wordtracker, Keyword Discovery , or the point-and-click ebusiness-building software, BeBiz.

These tools show you what words people are actually using as they search the Web. You’ll see that the words they use reveal the kinds of problems they’re trying to solve, and once you know that, you can zero in on particular niches with particular needs for a product or service.

We’d say that at least 60% of the issues we see with new businesses are tied directly to either too-broad or too-narrow niches. And people often give up before they realize that their niche needs a crucial tune-up, or that they need a new focus altogether.

Fortunately, there are still MILLIONS of niches left to target, and new, successful businesses being launched to reach them every single day.

Maybe it’s time one of them was yours…

(Check out the second post in this series here.)

The Internet business niche you choose is the most important aspect of starting out. Choose it wrong and you’ll find yourself without traffic and buyers. Choose it right, present the right information and offer, and you’re on the road to success.

There are many ways of approaching the niche you want to be part of. Although you can succeed in a crowded niche it takes savvy. Finding an under-served one is the quickest way to making your site successful.

Although his article focuses on blogging, the principals apply to a website also..

Click here to read more on finding niches.

The Skelliewag blog is a great spot visit to explore topics on blogging and finding niches in general