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I’m just wrapping up a small series on brainstorming and how to go about finding a topic that you’re truly passionate about and now I want to do a follow up on how to narrow that topic down into a niche topic to give you a better chance of success for your online business.

What I don’t think I stressed enough in the previous lessons is how important this is … even if you ALREADY have an online business.

If you’re not as successful as you’d like to be I hope you went through the lessons as well. If you didn’t get to them yet please do yourself a favor and give them a quick listen (they’re audio/video lessons).  You can find them here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and you’ll also want to check out the post about Gary Vaynerchuk’s book, Crush It, that is specifically about finding a topic you’re passionate about (enter for the signed book giveaway too).

In fact, I once heard Gary say (I wish I could remember which interview I heard this on *sigh*) that one mistake people make is that they have a topic they’re passionate about but they change it (even slightly) because they think there’s not a market for that specific topic.

Diet Soda … Soda … or Beverages?

The example he used was about a guy who was passionate about diet soda. He figured there was no way he could make a business out of his passion for diet soda so he thought maybe soda (all sodas). After he put some more thought into it he decided he wanted to make a fortune (and there couldn’t possibly be an audience for diet soda) so he decided to go with beverages. The problem with this way of thinking is that this guy isn’t passionate about all beverages … he’s passionate about diet soda! So when it comes time to speak and/or write about vodka or juice or any other beverages for that matter … he’s just not very interested (not full of passion for the subject) and he dreads going to work on the business and/or gets overwhelmed.

This was a “light bulb” moment for me. I have a site that I’d love to work on more often and I just don’t because it’s overwhelming and I feel like I’ll never get it to where it can be truly successful. As you might already know, Ken and I got married in Mexico earlier this year and I spent a ton of time online researching destination weddings … where to get married, what the requirements were for each country, the seasons/weather, travel expenses, etc. I was so excited about the subject that I started a site/blog on the subject (Best Destination Weddings – might as well give it a little link juice huh? LOL).

Well … after hearing the diet soda illustration I realized this: 

Weddings = Beverages

Destination Weddings = Soda

Riviera Maya Weddings = Diet Soda

Do you see the idea here? I could research, read, write … and talk about the Riviera Maya area where we got married (we returned to their for our honeymoon as well) all day every day and be totally excited and passionate about it … without wondering how much money I’ll make for sharing this information … B-I-N-G-O!!!!!!!! There’s my passion … don’t you agree?

I will not scrap the existing site but rather I will be adding a separate site that’s more specific to that area and then the sites can be a referral source for each other. I hope to find alternative ways to fill the existing site with steady content (article directories, guest bloggers, etc.) and that way I can focus my time and energy on the niche site and I’ll be thrilled to work on it.

So … where are you at in choosing your niche topic? Are you ready to get started? Do you have an online business? If so, was this helpful to you too? Are you considering an adjustments to any of your niches? Have questions? Let us hear from you! *SmiLes* Suzanne

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Austin and I have started our niche site “showdown” and we’ve decided to let our readers watch over our shoulders as we set up our sites and as we market and promote them … and eventually sell our products.

We’ve decided that due to the work involved in sharing this process and due to the fact that we’ll be sharing our niches and keyword choices and such … we will be putting the lessons on password protected pages on our blogs.

“Always do right. This will gratify some people, and astonish the rest.” ~ Mark Twain

To be honest … after sharing this idea with some people online … they couldn’t believe we would give these “lessons” away for free! They’ve encouraged me to make it into an eBook and sell it.

Sure … we could … but we’re not going to! All we ask is that you opt in to our mailing lists and follow along with what we’re doing … fair enough?

Click below to read about the “competition” and to get signed up for the free lessons! 

Free Niche Site Lessons!  

Thanks for all of your encouragement so far … I hope you take us up on our offer and please let us know if you have any questions (we’re here to help). *SmiLes* Suzanne

P.S. Do you build niche sites? Have you ever done a site specifically for information products? Are you going to sign up for our free lessons … and/or cheer us on? Let us hear from you!

P.S.S. Please let me know if everything goes smoothly when you get signed up for the lessons … I’m still mastering Aweber!

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If you’re reading this via RSS please come over to the blog for the posted video

So … I mentioned in an earlier post that my 13 year old son, Austin, and I came up with the idea to have a friendly competition … to test our abilities to build and promote a niche store of our choice.

Shortly after we came up with the idea of having a contest I happened onto a badass site (Niche Profit Classroom) that specializes in building and promoting niche sites … but not the eBay or Amazon type sites we initially had in mind … sites where we sell our own information products.

This is perfect! It levels the playing field a bit (for those of you who said it wouldn’t be fair to Austin LOL) and we’ll both learn a great deal from the exercise.

I’ve signed up for the monthly membership at Niche Profit Classroom and the video lessons are awesome! Adam is a great teacher – he’s very detailed and that works well with my personality.

What Austin and I have decided to do for this “contest” is to choose the two July niche stores that are provided through the membership site and we’ll: 

1. Choose and purchase our domain names
2. Put up the ready-made sites
3. Edit the site and content to make it unique
4. Get the eBooks ready to sell
5. Start promoting the sites
6. Hope to sell something! LOL

We will be documenting most everything we do (probably via email back and forth) and we will both be sharing this on our blogs (go check out http://www.austinfranco.com and subscribe while you’re there). We will challenge each other as we go for certain things like … pages indexed, backlinks to the site, PR, etc. … and of course SALES!

If you’re interested in niche stores, internet marking, blogging, or any type of online marketing … you will want to follow along as we go through this process … I promise you’ll learn something along the way (guaranteed or your money back ha ha ha)! *SmiLes* Suzanne 

P.S. What do you think of this friendly “competition”? Do you have any words of encouragement for me? Do you want to follow along and see what you can learn from us? Let us hear from you below …

P.S.S. Now … for those of you who think this is unfair to Austin … I will ask, “Do you have any idea how much my son is ‘gunning’ for me?”

Remember … I have businesses to run and a house full of kids (and a husband) to take care of … so for those who think this isn’t fair to Austin … THINK AGAIN! Austin has been following along with everything I’ve learned online and he’ll do just fine. Besides the idea isn’t for me to “beat” him … or him to beat me … but for us to challenge and motivate each other … with a dash of fun thrown in there – and it’s really important to both of us that we teach others as we go.

If you want to see what the Niche Profit Classroom is all about they’ve done a great job explaining it here … 

Niche Profit Classroom

Check out our video message below!

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How to Start a Blog – Brainstorming Ideas (Problems and Solutions) – Video Tutorial #2

We are on Video Tutorial #2 in my series on “How to Start a Blog” and today we are going to do some more brainstorming. On the last video we focused on brainstorming your ideas, passions, hobbies, interests, etc.

This time we are going to shift gears a little and brainstorm any and all problems you have that you would really like to solve.

Enjoy the video and then see my lesson notes below.

Notes and Outline from this lesson:

Today’s Lesson is on Brainstorming (Problems and Solutions)

1. Write down any and all problems you have … could be with your health, your relationships, kids/parenting, debt … I even had a house fire a few years ago and recovering from that would fall into this category …
2. Add these problems to your list especially if you have (or would) go onto the internet to look for a solution
3. Don’t try to decide if there is a solution for this problem just yet
4. Don’t try to decide if you could make a business out of this problem just yet 

• Write out EVERYTHING that comes to mind
• Nothing is silly to add to the list
• Do NOT try to figure out if you could make a business out of this (that’s another step we will get to … I promise)
• Once you are done, you should start to rearrange your list putting the top 5 – 10 towards the top (they don’t need to be in an exact order) and then try to filter on down as you see fit

That’s it … that’s your homework to get done before moving on to Tutorial #3.

Hope you enjoyed it and please leave me your questions and comments. Your feedback is very valuable to me (and most likely to others) and I’d love to help you in any way I can. *SmiLes* Suzanne

Video Tutorials:

How to Start a Blog – Brainstorming Ideas – Video Tutorial #1

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How to Start a Blog – Brainstorming Ideas – Video Tutorial #1

Want to know how to start a blog? I can help!

I’m so excited! I am starting my new video tutorial series on “How to Start a Blog” and it is designed with the total newbie in mind. It will also progress into a “what to do next” type of series.

This “How to Start a Blog” series will include: brainstorming, keyword research, finding a niche, choosing and purchasing a domain, setting up a hosting account, pointing your domain, how to install WordPress, backing up your sites, how to use FTP programs, choosing and installing a theme, widgets and plugins, RSS feeds and mailing lists, and other tools that will help you analyze and run your blog … and probably much more!

If you or someone you know is new to blogging or would like to start a blog please sign up for my RSS feed and follow along with the lessons.

I would be very happy to answer any questions so please ask away … either in the comments section or through my contact page.

Enjoy the first video (I’ll get better at this as I go … I promise! LOL).

 
 
 
Notes and Outline from this lesson:

Today’s Lesson is on Brainstorming 

1. Write out ALL ideas you have had for a business
2. Write out ALL of the things you are interested in (i.e. sports, hobbies, what you do in your spare time, what you like to read about, material possessions you have or want, etc.)
3. Write out WHO you are (i.e. woman, divorced, engaged, parent, mom, soon-to-be step mom, Christian, like to help and teach others, tall, etc.)
4. Write out what you are experienced in (i.e. list cars on eBay, cell phone business, direct sales, sales, marketing, people, etc.)
5. Write out ALL of your causes or passions (i.e. politics, environment, advocacy issues, etc.) 

• Write out EVERYTHING that comes to mind
• Nothing is silly to add to the list
• Do NOT try to figure out if you could make a business out of this (that’s another step we will get to … I promise) 
• Once you are done, you should start to rearrange your list putting the top 5 – 10 towards the top (they don’t need to be in an exact order) and then try to filter on down as you see fit 

That’s it … that’s your homework to get done before moving on to Tutorial #2.

Hope you enjoyed it and please leave me your questions and comments. Your feedback is very valuable to me and I’d love to help you in any way I can. *SmiLes* Suzanne

Update/Edit: I mention that if you already have a blog or a business that you can skip this step. I have since changed my mind. If you have a blog or a business that isn’t as successful as you’d like it to be … one reason might be that you haven’t YET discovered your “niche.” This basic exercise might help you narrow down or become more specialized in what you are already doing. So I think everyone should give this a shot … including me!

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A lot of times we think we’ve got the perfect “niche market” when what we actually have is a product we’re already selling (or would like to sell) … and now we’ve decided it’s a “niche market.” Derek Gehl said it perfectly when he said, “A niche market is a group of people who are searching the Internet for a solution to their problem – and not finding many relevant results.” Most people go on the Internet to find information … not to purchase something … so that’s what we need to give them.

Let’s use the vitamin and wellness business as an example. A representative who is selling these type products might think that their target market is … well … everyone walking the face of the planet because “everyone” should be taking vitamins. Well, they are going to have a very tough time being successful with that way of thinking.

In fact, ideally your online business would start this way: 

1. Write down all of your hobbies, interests, and passions
2. Do key word research on all possible terms related to each and every subject
3. Look at the competition for the subjects that have a market
4. Look at forums and blogs for a hungry market (what is their problem and can you find a solution) 

But, for this example our representative is already in business so let’s see how we can back into finding them a niche market.

I would start by brainstorming every word that I personally associate with health and wellness. You want to use subjects that are important to you because it will be a whole lot easier to be passionate and stay interested in something that matters to you personally. For me that would be: healthy, sickness, allergies, back pain, joint pain, fibromyalgia, weight loss, fatigue, kid’s health, immune system … that’s a good start.

Now I would go to my favorite keyword research tools and plug them in one at a time. I usually keep a Word Doc open and copy/paste my results so I can compare my findings. If I find fibromyalgia has good traffic I would then do a Google search for fibromyalgia + forum and fibromyalgia + blog and see what I find. I would probably also go to Yahoo Answers and see what I find there. I’m looking for a common thread … what type of information are these people online looking for? What are the symptoms of fibromyalgia? How do you control fibromyalgia pain? What do you take for fibromyalgia? This will give me my niche market … my target market … people who want to “control fibromyalgia pain” for instance.

Now I can further research my key words and phrases, I now know what type of content I need, I have a marketing approach, I know where to hang out to help my target market … and I can help solve their problem … and in this case it would be with the supplements I sell that are known to help fibromyalgia.

Of course then you would want to “rinse and repeat” with allergies, weight loss, etc.

Do you have a niche market … or just a product? Share your thoughts … we’d love to hear from you! *SmiLes* Suzanne

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