Home Business Tip of the Day: The "Formula" For Success

Tip of The Day:
The "Formula" For Success

"Would you like me to give you a formula for success? It’s quite simple, really. Double your rate of failure. You are thinking of failure as the enemy of success. But it isn’t at all. You can be discouraged by failure or you can learn from it, So go ahead and make mistakes. Make all you can. Because remember that’s where you will find success."
- Thomas J. Watson

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In these 7 free videos Mike explained in simple east to understand steps how I could attract an endless stream of prospects to me ready to join and actually get paid to have these prospects come to me.

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Wes Waddell

> Internet Marketing,Training — Wes @ 10:05 am

November 15, 2011

Home Business Tip of the Day: The Last Thing You Should Worry About Is Grammar…

Tip of The Day:
The Last Thing You Should Worry
About Is Grammar…

"I don’t know the rules of grammar… If you’re trying to persuade people to do something, or buy something, it seems to me you should use their language, the language they use every day, the language in which they think." – David Ogilvy

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> Internet Marketing,Training — Wes @ 11:11 am

November 9, 2011

Home Business Tip of the Day: The Power of One – One Big Idea

Dear Subscriber,

In today’s Carefree Entrepreneur, Michael Masterson explains a strategy you can use to make every ad, sales letter, and promotional email you put out more effective.

Your customers will "connect" emotionally with your business and products, they’ll buy more and more often, and you’ll succeed much faster.

Michael focuses on applying it to marketing in this essay. But this little-known principle is key to your success in all areas of your Carefree Business, including the niche you choose and the products you create.

Cheers,

Jason Holland
Managing Editor
Carefree Entrepreneur

P.S. Don’t forget to sign up officially for Carefree Entrepreneur. As part of your subscription to Early to Rise, you get a complimentary subscription for a limited time. Please go here to make sure you don’t miss any future issues. You’ll also get instant access to an exclusive video from Michael Masterson in which he reveals his top business start-up secrets.

The Power of One – One Big Idea
By Michael Masterson

One of the biggest lessons I have ever learned about writing came very late – in fact, more than twenty years after I wrote my first piece of copy.

It happened about a year after I began writing Early To Rise (ETR). I was looking over issues I’d written that year and noting which ones readers rated the highest. Without exception, those achieving the highest scores presented a single idea.

It struck me that readers didn’t want to hear everything I had to say about a topic every time I wrote. They were looking for a single, useful suggestion or idea that could make them more successful.

That was one of those "aha!" experiences for me.

As a reader, I had always most enjoyed stories and essays that tackled one subject effectively and deeply. As a writer, I sensed my readers felt this way too. But it wasn’t until I looked at the ETR results that I recognized the power of a narrow focus in writing.

I checked to see if this same phenomenon applied to advertising copy. I pulled out my box of "best promotions of all time." While not all of them were on a single topic, most of the very best hit just one idea strongly.

It seemed I was on to something. I presented this idea as one "powerful secret to publishing success" when Agora had our first company-wide meeting for publishers in France.

Bill Bonner reminded me he’d learned about the Power of One from the great advertising guru David Ogilvy. Ogilvy’s concept was that every great promotion has, at its core, a single, powerful idea that he called "the Big Idea."

At about that same time, John Forde was rereading the classic 1941 book, "How to Write a Good Advertisement" by Victor Schwab – the man Advertising Age called the "greatest mail-order copywriter of all time."

In that book, Schwab listed his choice for the "Top 100 Headlines." John found that of those 100 top headlines, 90 were driven by single, Big Ideas.

Note how instantly clear and engaging these "Big Ideas" are…

  • "The Secret of Making People Like You"
  • "Is the Life of a Child Worth $1 to You?"
  • "To Men Who Want to Quit Work Someday"
  • "Are You Ever Tongue-Tied at a Party?"
  • "How a New Discovery Made a Plain Girl Beautiful"
  • "Who Else Wants a Screen Star Figure?"
  • "You Can Laugh at Money Worries – If You Follow This Simple Plan"
  • "When Doctors ‘Feel Rotten’ This is What They Do"
  • "How I Improved My Memory in One Evening"
  • "Discover the Fortune That Lies Hidden In Your Salary"
  • "How I Made a Fortune with a ‘Fool Idea’"
  • "Have You a ‘Worry’ Stock?"

At ETR, we made this concept a "rule" for writing. The mandate was clear. Write about one thing at a time. One good idea, clearly and convincingly presented, was better than a dozen so-so ideas strung together.

When we obeyed that rule, our essays were stronger. When we ignored it, they were not as powerful as they could have been.

Here’s an example of the Rule of One as applied to an advertorial taken from ETR:

Subject Line: The Easiest Product to Sell Online

Dear Early to Riser,

Would you be interested in investing $175 to make $20,727?

That’s exactly what Bob Bly just accomplished!

See how he did it below… and how easily you could do the same.

MaryEllen Tribby,
ETR Publisher

Dear Friend,

There’s no product easier to create or sell online…

… than a simple, straightforward instructional or how-to e-book.

Why are e-books the perfect information product to sell on the Internet?

  • 100% profit margin.
  • No printing costs.
  • No inventory to store.
  • Quick and easy to update.
  • No shipping costs or delays.
  • Higher perceived value than regular books.
  • Quick, simple, and inexpensive to produce.

My very first e-book has generated $20,727 in sales (so far).

My total investment in producing it: just $175.

Now, I want to show you how to make huge profits creating and selling simple e-books – in my new e-book "Writing E-Books for Fun & Profit."

Normally my e-books sell for anywhere from $29 to $79, and later this year, "Writing E-Books for Fun & Profit" will sell for $59.

However, to make it affordable for you to get started in e-book publishing, I’m letting you have "Writing E-Books for Fun & Profit" for only $19 today – a savings of $40 off the cover price!

For more information… or to order on a risk-free 90-day trial basis… just click here now.

Sincerely,

Bob Bly

P.S. But, I urge you to hurry. This special $40 discount is for a limited time only. And once it expires, it may never be repeated again.

Let me explain how the Power of One operates here.

In the lift letter (signed by MaryEllen Tribby), Bob asks a question and then tells a single-sentence story. The question is an inverted promise. The story validates the promise.

The sales letter follows. This, too, is a beautifully simple piece of copy. It leads with a statement that expresses one clear idea: "The easiest way to make money on the Internet is to market e-books."

That statement is supported by a number of bulleted "facts." Then Bob validates the statement by mentioning his own experience.

The reader is already sold. Bob makes the sale irresistible with a strong, one-time-only offer.

Short, sweet, and simple.

The Power of One is not only one big, central idea. It’s a fully engaging piece of copy with five necessary elements. Using Bob’s example:

  • One good idea: "There’s no product easier to create or sell online than a simple, straightforward instructional or how-to e-book."

  • One core emotion: "It is simple! I bet I can do it!"

  • One captivating story: Told brilliantly in 11 words: "My very first e-book has generated $20,727 in sales (so far)."

  • One single, desirable benefit: "Now, I want to show you how to make huge profits creating and selling simple e-books."

  • One inevitable response: The only way to get this book for $19 is to "click here now."

To create blockbuster promotions time after time, you must understand the difference between good copy and great copy. The Power of One is the driving force behind great copy.

Veteran advertising consultant James Loftus, who’s worked with Anheuser-Busch, Holiday Inn, McDonald’s, and many other clients, agrees:

"Also keep in mind that the more points you try to cover, the less effective each point, and therefore your ad, will be. An effective ad will actually have only one central focus, even if you discuss it from two or three perspectives. If your points are too diverse, they compete with each other, and end up pulling the reader’s attention in separate directions."

When challenged with an advertising assignment, most writers conjure lists of features and benefits, then mention as many as possible. Their thinking goes, "I wonder which of these benefits will really push the buttons I want? I’ll throw them all in. That way, if one doesn’t work, another one will."

This is B-level copywriting. It’s not the way to create breakthrough advertising.

The Power of One is commonplace now at Agora… it’s taught by AWAI… and you’ll see that most top copywriters follow it.

You can use the Power of One to create your own blockbuster copy. Ask yourself: "What is the Big Idea here? Is this idea strong enough to capture the hearts of my customers? Or are my ideas all over the place?"

The challenge is to find that one good idea the reader can grasp immediately. And stick to it. So the idea has to be strong, easy to understand… and easy to believe.

Put the Power of One to work for you in all your communications. You’ll be amazed at how much stronger – and successful – your copy will be.

Editor’s Note: Michael Masterson spoke in depth about the Power of One during his presentation at AWAI’s recent Bootcamp conference.

During the event, a dozen master copywriters and expert marketers shared their most powerful secrets for creating powerful advertising copy. Copy is one of the keys to your online business success. You can’t afford to not educate yourself about how to create effective advertising.

If you weren’t at the live event, no worries. American Writers & Artists Inc. recorded the whole thing. The videos of every single presentation, including master copywriter and marketer Dan Kennedy, veteran copywriter and consultant Bob Bly, and copywriter and entrepreneur Joe Sugarman, among many others, are available online.

Go here to find out more about the 2011 FastTrack to Success Bootcamp Home Study program.

Everyone should have their own Home Business…

Ready to get started for FREE?

www.Referals.ws has your answers.

> Internet Marketing,Training — Wes @ 8:39 am

November 7, 2011

Home Business Tip of the Day: ?Getting Clarity On The Things You Do

Hey Fellow Entrepreneur, 

So we’re on the subject of getting clarity this week.

Clarity is all about asking the right questions. Figuring out the important things you need to know before going in to anything.

In your last issue, I told to you about the questions I ask the viewers of my new training webinar before we even get started. I have them answer these questions so they can get clear in terms of what they want to get out of the webinar.

That makes the webinar infinitely more valuable to them. They get much more value out of it.

That’s a truth no matter what you’re doing.


Whether you’re on a webinar, or reading a book, writing a blog, whatever…

So today I want to talk a bit about getting clarity in another area. It’s just as important as anything else, but like those other questions, rarely asked by entrepreneurs.

And then I want to share an idea about why it’s so important for you to be able to ask and answer your own questions.

This is going to be a challenging issue for you. But read and digest it and I think you’ll be richer for it.

So let’s get going.

To higher profits and beyond,

Rich

 
 
 Getting Clarity On The Things You Do
By Rich Schefren

Today we’re going to talk about getting clarity in your projects

And really, it doesn’t even have to be a major project. I can be a minor project – anything you’re doing that requires several you should be looking to get clarity on.

I believe there are two questions for getting clarity on a project that we can ask. The first is, “What does done look like?” That’s the big overarching question. The second one is, “What does doing look like?”

In other words, when it’s complete, what will it look like? And, what are all the steps involved in getting it done?

Let’s look at these questions separately.

Are You Done Yet?


So how do you determine what “done” looks like?

The way you surface the answers to that is by asking a series of questions like, “if this project was incredibly successful, how would it turn out?” “If it was everything I wanted it to be, how would I know?” “If this was a smashing success, how would it end up?”

So those are the types of questions that you ask to get extensive clarity about what does done look like. Obviously if it’s anything that is more than just a few steps, it requires that you actually spend a few minutes at the very least writing out your answer to that question so that you can have greater clarity.

Now once you understand that, the next step is to figure out what “doing” looks like. To do this you need to really start listing all the steps that will get you to “done.”

I think I’ve probably shared this before, but what I like to do to determine what “doing” looks like is to brainstorm all the steps.

I don’t try and make it linear – first step, second step, etc. – because if I do that, I box myself in too quickly. So what I try to do is just brainstorm all the steps first.

Then as I’ve kind of exhausted all the steps, then I put them in order. As I put them in order, I realize I might have forgotten certain things.

Once I get all that down, I’m able to put it into a step-by-step plan that will lead me to this outcome that I’ve already defined by determining what would this look like if it was an amazing success.

Make sense?

A Harder Question: How do you know the questions to ask?


That brings up a more difficult question of how do you know what you need to know, to get clarity on anything?

To answer that, I’m going to go a little bit more global here for a second; a little bit more meta-level.

The answer is really pretty simple, but it’s not that easy to do. I’m talking about the ability for you, as an entrepreneur, to trust your instincts.

Why is it so hard to do?

Well you see, you’ve been trained ever since you were a child not to trust your instincts; that somehow your instincts were bad or wrong.

When you were a baby you wanted all your toys and your parents made you share them. When you went to school, you might have wanted to stand up and walk around; but you were forced to sit in class and pay attention. If you decided that something was interesting to you if it wasn’t necessarily interesting to your parents or your teachers you might not have been able to study it or get access to it.

You’ve been taught over time to trust outside experts to give you certain answers that ultimately you should be developing yourself.

The bottom line is, and this is just my perspective, because people don’t trust their instincts, they don’t know what it is they want or need.

They end up looking for answers without knowing what it is they need to know.

The problem with getting answers to questions you don’t know


So they end up joining a program, they buy some books, they listen to an audio but they’re not really clear what it is they’re hoping to get out of it. So they go to wherever it is they’re going; the program, the audio, the course, the book, etc. hoping to find out what’s there and what potentially they need as opposed to walking in knowing exactly what they need and what they’re there for.

When you don’t trust your instincts you end up deferring to others to tell you more and more of what you need for the clarity. Ultimately you’re not getting your own clarity. You’re getting other people’s clarity.

Most of things that you want right now, whether you really want them or not, have been ingrained in you. Someone else has told you that you need to have it. It’s obvious what those things are. You want more money. You want a good relationship with someone who loves you. You want a good business that makes you feel like you’re making a contribution and getting the security and freedom that you desire.

So here’s another big question. Do you think you need something that you currently don’t have in order to get something you want? Do you think you need something that you don’t have right now in order to get more money; in order to have a good relationship with someone who loves you; in order to have a good business where you feel like you’re making a contribution?

And if you do feel you need something, what is it exactly? If you don’t know what it is you need to have in order to get that, how will you ever find it?

Unless you’re hoping that someone else takes responsibility for knowing what it is you need and therefore giving it to you. That is a very dangerous position to put yourself in.

I’ll share a personal story about that in the next issue.

 
 
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> Internet Marketing,Training — Wes @ 1:32 pm

November 5, 2011

Home Business Tip of the Day: You’ve Probably Never Considered…

Two More Powerful Marketing Ideas
(You’ve Probably Never Considered…)

By Rich Schefren


Let’s press on with our discussion about improving your marketing.

So far we talked about putting yourself in your prospects shoes as the fastest way to understand what kind of value they are looking for. Then we talked about overcoming objections they’ll have once they get your message.

This week I wanted to finish up our marketing chat in a big way. But there’s a lot of ground I want to cover, so I’m going to have do it in two parts.

First I want to quickly go over the words that you can replace. From there we’re going to dig just a little deeper and dive into some human needs and show you how you can leverage them for more opportunities.

Little Words Make a HUGE Difference


We all make this mistake. I’m sure that you could find numerous examples where I’ve made it myself. But nonetheless it is important and something you need to keep in mind when creating a marketing message.

I’m talking about the power of certain words you use.

You see, there are words that increase the chances of a sale and there are words that will work against you in that regard. Let’s start with the biggest offender.

“Buy.” Buy is a word that is simply not ideal. People don’t like to be sold, so telling them to buy is a big turn off for your prospect.

So what can you use instead?

How about “claim?” Think about, “Discover how you can claim your special report” as opposed to “Buy your special report here.” Can you see and hear the difference?

You can use the word “invest.” “Your investment in this special report is backed by our iron-clad guarantee.” Or how about “enroll.” “When you enroll to get the information in this special report…”

This isn’t the be-all-end-all list, but you can see how they are an improvement over the word “buy.”

Don’t Make Your Prospect “Work”


Another word that can always be generally improved upon is “learn.”

People generally don’t like to learn. Learning is work. People much prefer to “discover.” Discovering is exciting. It implies “newness” or something that maybe no one else has seen or heard of before.

Or even better, if you are talking in kind of conversational tone, you could say “find out.” “Here’s how you can find out…”

Both words are less threatening to the prospect.

I sometimes see people use the word “things” in sales letters. As in “The five things you need to become…”

“Things” is a weak word. It’s very important to be specific in your marketing message. “Things” is just too vague. Tips, tricks, techniques, insights, secrets, strategies, insider tactics, etc. are all much better options than using “things.”

This list could go on forever. And I’m not going to spend the entire issue trying to create a comprehensive list. Suffice to know and understand that you have to be aware of the words you are using in your marketing.

If your words imply work on the part of your prospect or anything confrontational (like the “buy” example,) you should think twice about using a different word in its place.

The Secret Reason Everyone Buys…


Now, I want to share one more important marketing concept with you.

I’ve saved it for last because it can be immensely powerful. It can really be your ticket to multiplying how profitable, how big, how successful your business can be. And also accelerate how fast you get to your goals.

But before I get into it, I want to kind of give you the right context here. There are two important pieces of information that I want to share with you that I think will help you appreciate the value that I’m about to give you.

The first is from Porter Stansberry. Porter runs the largest division of Agora – Stansberry & Associates. His division has grown to nine figures in a very short period of time. That’s over $100 million dollars. Thanks to his division alone, Agora will break $600 million this year.

Porter once told me that people buy for emotional reasons, but those emotional reasons never get full satisfied. That’s important. Once you know what a buyer has bought in the past, you have a pretty good idea of what they will buy in the future.

So for example, I buy a lot of books. There are a lot of good business reasons why I buy them. But there’s also some emotional baggage I carry around.

Let’s say I buy all these books because my mother and father thought I was stupid. That’s not true but let’s just say that it was as an example. If that were the case, then I’m really buying all these books because I’m unconsciously I’m trying to prove that I’m smart.

Well if that’s the case, there is no book that’s ever going to fill that emotional need. There’s never going to be a book that I buy, read, and say, “Ah ha! Now I’m smart! I don’t have to buy any more books ever again.”

It’s that emotional need that never gets satisfied that a marketer can tap into time and time again. That’s important to realize. I think it’s pretty profound actually.

And what’s more, we’re all subject to these emotional needs in some form or another.

I want you to think about that for the next couple days.

What kind of emotional needs might prospects in your market have that you would be able to fill. Make a short list. When I come back in the next issue, I’m going to expand on this in much greater detail.

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For questions or requests: contact us online.

Everyone should have their own Home Business…

Ready to get started for FREE?

www.Referals.ws has your answers.

> Internet Marketing,Training — Wes @ 12:23 pm

October 25, 2011

Home Business Tip of the Day: No Product? No Problem!

No Product? No Problem!
By Jason Holland

As Carefree Entrepreneurs, we take the “easy way” whenever possible.

This philosophy guides how we start our businesses. What niche we go into. And, as I’ll show you today, what products we sell.

The great news is that you can sidestep the dilemma facing many new business owners: how do I create a profitable new product?

Take my friend John, whom I mentioned a few months ago. In his Carefree Business, he never creates products. He simply chooses among thousands of already created, proven-to-sell products to offer on his websites. This speeds up the time it takes for products to come in. And he never has to waste time trying to perfect a product he’s created.

John doesn’t stock these in a warehouse or ship them out… process orders or handle returns… or even talk to customers.

The only thing he does is some simple advertising. For that, he collects checks every month – from wherever in the world he happens to be at the moment.

It’s thanks to affiliate marketing.

Basically, John markets other businesses’ products (he specializes in nutritional supplements) and takes a commission (from 20 to 80 percent or more, depending on the company) on every sale. All he has to do is include a unique link (trackable to him) to the shopping cart of the company in an ad, blog post, article, or sales letter on his website.

It’s all automated. And John has nothing to do with the order after visitors to his site click over to the shopping cart. As I mentioned, affiliates don’t have to process orders, ship out products, or handle any customer service.

It’s a very low-maintenance business thanks to that level of automation.

The Easiest Way to Get Started as an Affiliate

As an affiliate, you can sell products from big names like Amazon or Walmart, as well as smaller companies who market everything from weight loss programs to legal services.

But today, we’ll focus on an affiliate network called ClickBank. It’s ideally suited to Carefree Entrepreneurs – and first time online business builders – because:

  • It deals solely in instantly downloadable digital information products. With instant delivery, customers are more willing to buy.
  • The products on ClickBank are cheap – nothing above a few hundred bucks. Again, that means customers are itching to pull out that credit card. Expensive products sell less. And the customer usually has to feel more comfortable, visiting the sales page a few times before making a final decision. Not so with ClickBank.
  • ClickBank has many proven bestsellers with long track records of sales and profits.
  • The commissions – at up to 75 percent- are among the highest online. That means you can sell these relatively cheap products – which sell much easier than expensive products – and keep most of the sales price for yourself. Product owners allow this because of the sheer volume of products they sell through all their affiliates. And because everything is digital, you get your commission payments much faster.

This well-established affiliate network is a one-stop shop. Many entrepreneurs base their whole business on ClickBank.

You’ll find products on just about any subject you can think of: investing, dog training, Disney World, weddings, computer help, languages, building chicken coops… And they’re in many formats that appeal to customers: ebooks, software, instruction books, travel guides, and more.

One bestselling product in the health and fitness area, The Turbulence Training Kettlebell Revolution, is a video series dedicated to exercising with the kettlebell, a heavy round weight with a ring attached. With a 75 percent commission and a sales price of $57 for the basic package… that’s $42.75 per sale you get to keep. Just five sales a day would bring in just under $1,500 a week.

And all you’ve done is set up a simple website selling this product.

What’s really cool is that many times the business you affiliate with has proven sales copy already written for you. You can use it on your own site in ads, blog posts, articles, and even full sales letters. The companies encourage you to “copy” all their advertising. They want you to market their products and will help you do so.

You’re bound to find a product related to your business’s niche on ClickBank. The list is easily searchable on the website. And you get detailed sales stats so you know which products are the most popular. These are proven sellers that have made affiliates thousands of dollars.

And when you want to start promoting a ClickBank product, it’s easy. You don’t have to contact each product creator and set up an agreement. You just register once with ClickBank.

Then you simply browse all the affiliate offers available related to your niche, pick one, and as a member, you’ll get links to the company’s sales letter and order page, trackable to your account. ClickBank handles the commission payments so you don’t have to follow up with anybody.

There really is no easier way to start selling online.

Of course, to generate sales, you need a website and customers visiting that website, right?

The tips I’ve been passing on over the past several months – and the ones to come – will help you do that.

But to speed up that learning… you have another option.

Nick Usborne’s How to Write Your Own Money-Making Websites program is designed specifically for those starting their first online business. Using ‘simple to set up and manage’ website software, you could soon have a website generating up to $10,000 of extra income per month for just a few hours of work a week.

With Nick’s strategies for picking a profitable niche for your business, bringing traffic (potential customers) to your website, and creating content that primes visitors to buy… you’ll have a complete online money-making venture.

Learn more about Nick’s proven model for a Carefree Business here.

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Everyone should have their own Home Business…

Ready to get started for FREE?

www.Referals.ws has your answers.

> Internet Marketing,Training — Wes @ 9:22 am

October 24, 2011

Home Business Tip of the Day: Get Ready…

Get Ready
By Jason Holland

Several weeks ago, I told you about a nearly risk-free way to start your Carefree Business.

It’s a strategy that will allow you to nail down the niche for your Carefree Business, test your business ideas, figure out what type of products you should sell, and refine your advertising and marketing strategy… without spending much money (a few hundred bucks at most). And you’ll experience success – and your first profits – much faster.

This start-up strategy is called Ready, Fire, Aim. And I’d like to tackle the next step today.

First, I have to mention that today is the very last chance to join the Internet Money Club online business building program. The next session is starting next week. And although the official deadline to sign up was yesterday, I’ve arranged for Carefree Entrepreneurs to have one last chance to get in.

With IMC, you’ll start from scratch … and at the end, have a fully functioning online business. With a mentor showing you the way, you’ll go step by step through determining your niche, honing your marketing, building your website, and everything else you need to have your own profitable "mom and pop" Internet business.

Several past members have gone on to create five- and six-figure Carefree Businesses working just part time. Read their stories – and find out all the details on the Internet Money Club program – here.

Back to Ready, Fire, Aim.

In a nutshell, RFA is all about taking action, speed, keeping things simple – especially at first, and not spending time or money on unprofitable ideas.

You don’t go through what are considered the conventional first steps to a business: logo, fancy website, office equipment, or product stock. Because you are starting an information business online, you don’t need any of that anyway. All you really need are your home computer and your ideas.

You test those ideas in the market first by trying to sell them. You let your customers determine what your business looks like. You start with the prospect, not the product.

As Michael Masterson says in his book Ready, Fire, Aim:

"Wise business owners know they cannot determine the goodness of an idea until they try to sell it. So they will try to sell it as soon as they can – before they have spent a lot of time and money making it perfect."

In my first essay on RFA, we covered the initial steps in the first phase: Ready. When getting Ready, you narrow down your business’s niche, determine the target market, figure out what products you’re going to sell, and put together the initial marketing plan.

This is all done quickly and easily with the online tools I’ll be telling you about. And we’ll be taking things one step at a time here in the Carefree Entrepreneur.

Last time, I asked you to come up with an idea for your Carefree Business. I heard from several readers.

Thomas wants to sell information on disaster preparedness. Sally is a wedding planner in Italy looking to take her business online. And Charles wants to help people on a budget with interior decorating.

If you haven’t picked your niche yet, take a moment to do so now.

Brainstorm all your passions, hobbies, or interests. Then pick one that your gut tells you will sell.

Now we’ll back up that gut feeling with some proof that this is a viable business idea.

The Carefree Entrepreneur’s Path to a Profitable Business

So you have an idea for your ideal business. Let’s use something having to do with yoga as an example. Insert your own business idea to follow along.

You love yoga and so do all your friends. It seems to be everywhere.

To confirm your feeling, do this:

  1. Look for real-world evidence. How many yoga studios are in your area? Is yoga offered at your local gym? Have you seen yoga DVDs and other products for sale in local shops? At your local bookstore, do you see yoga books and magazines for sale? Do you see ads related to yoga in magazines you read?

    Here in South Florida, I found 30+ yoga studios in a 20-mile radius of my home, with 10 within a 15-minute drive – and that was just a cursory search. And yoga gear is for sale everywhere from Whole Foods to small businesses downtown.

    If you found the same results with your topic, then…

  2. Go online. Do keyword searches related to your topic. In our example, you could Google "yoga", "yoga tips", "hatha yoga", "beginner’s yoga", etc. You are looking for sites selling products and information related to yoga. There should also be plenty of paid ads at the top and right of the search results. The more you find, the better. That means there is a big customer base and businesses are making money. You should also check eBay and the Amazon Marketplace for sellers in this niche.

    My keyword searches yielded thousands of sites selling videos (yogawithles.com/videos/), subscriptions to member sites (yogatoday.com), and physical products (gaiam.com). And there were many sellers on eBay and the Amazon Marketplace (a great place to check out trends). Plus, there were paid ads up through the 15th page of search results. If there are that many businesses paying for ad placements – that’s also a good sign.

    Now let’s make sure that all those sites in the search results are the real deal.

  3. You want a topic that generates traffic (which leads to sales). Here’s an insider tip to find out just how successful all those sites you found are. Use free tools like Alexa.com and Compete.com. Just type in the web address and you’ll get a graph of web traffic. You should also use Google’s free Keyword Tool (https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal) to check out searches related to your niche.

    Again… The more the better. A few thousand searches a month is not so good. Tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of searches is where you want to be. I wouldn’t recommend going into any niche without at least 30,000 searches per month.

    "Bikram yoga," for example, yielded 823,000 monthly searches on Google. "Yoga video" has 210,000 searches. "Yoga online" brought 110,000. Those are good numbers.

In the yoga example, going through the steps above yielded a huge offline and online presence. Thousands of businesses large and small are selling yoga products, from mats and clothing to instructional videos, ebooks, and yoga retreat travel packages. And the website traffic and keyword searches were off the charts.

It’s a certified worldwide trend and you should jump on it. If your niche didn’t have much of a presence, repeat with some of your other passions or hobbies until you find a winner.

You might wonder, how will you stand out from the crowd? Is there room for your business in this crowded market?

The competition is a good thing.

It seems counterintuitive. But you want to be surrounded by similar businesses. Other successful businesses mean there are customers out there. Customers that can be yours.

That doesn’t mean your business won’t be unique.

In the next essay in this series, we’ll discuss how to narrow down your niche to meet the needs of certain segments of the market. By being specific and coming up with your own unique twist on what’s "hot," you’ll position yourself as an authority and become the go-to online resource.

In our example, yoga is too broad. And you can’t compete with the big name companies and gurus in the field. But "yoga for preschoolers" or "yoga for busy professionals" might do the trick. The keyword tool you used above will be very useful here.

Next time, we’ll use several of the same online tools to help you pick your specific niche.

Before then, make sure to go through the steps above. It must be done before you can narrow down your niche, not to mention find or create a product to sell, create your initial marketing, and perform other start-up steps.

If you have any questions on market research, don’t hesitate to get in touch with me at askjason@awaionline.com.

And if you haven’t already, be sure to sign up officially for Carefree Entrepreneur here. You’ll ensure you won’t miss an issue, and you’ll get a free video presentation from Michael Masterson. Created originally for attendees who paid $2,000 to attend a conference, in this presentation, Michael reveals the four stages of business growth. Go here to get access immediately.

For questions or requests: contact us online.

Everyone should have their own Home Business…

Ready to get started for FREE?

www.Referals.ws has your answers.

> Internet Marketing,Training — Wes @ 9:13 am

October 17, 2011

The Types of People That This is Meant For?

What Types of People is This Home Business Meant For?

Are you the right type of person for us to team up with? Watch Robert Keyosaki and find out.

 

If this is You…

Get started for free right now!

> Internet Marketing,Marketing Review,Rantings,Training — Wes @ 7:37 am

October 6, 2011

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