A Phone Is A Must
An email address is not enough. You need a phone and someone to answer it. Preferably an 800 number. Even if you expect to receive few calls, this is a must. People often call just to see if you're for real. If there's no phone, you've lost a sale. Some argue that voice mail is a reasonable alternative, but it will not help if you can not get back quickly. If you have a spouse who can answer, go for it. If not, find someone in your area who can take calls as your secretary. If you provide up-to-date information about your business, your "secretary" can often save you the need for a later reply. Further, there is simply no less expensive way to appear to be working the business full time.
Where We're At
The above is not the whole of it. For example, there has been no mention of search engines, yet good positioning can make a big difference. Again, if you
know how to optimize pages and can do so easily, it is worth your time to do so. If not, hire it out. Writing skills are important. If yours aren't so hot, factor in some cost for editing, or even creating both page content and the advertising message behind all. Good service is available at $25-$50/hour.
You must add up these costs relative to your particular needs. But it is unlikely you can start a serious online business for less than $500 to $1000, even if you do all the work yourself.
Time Cost Analysis
Starting any business means commitments in time you can not expect to recover except over the long run. So good cost analysis is difficult initially. Even so, put a dollar value on your time, perhaps as low as $5/hour, to help you make good decisions about how you will use your time. Even at $5/hour, it will be clear that some things should be hired out.
Building web pages with HTML when you could be generating leads may not be the best use of time. Reading a book or two about how to work the Web can be very helpful, but sometimes it's more cost effective to buy the information needed.
Working harder is often the only option available. But when possible, work smarter, which often means hiring services. In the end you'll have more fun and rake in greater profits sooner.
One Path To Online Success
If you are determined to build a successful online business, here's a plan that works, even if you are brand new to the Web. The key to it is to take a small step in each of several areas all at the same time. As long as each step takes you closer to your goal, then there is no hurry at all. That is, you can work with it as time allows. The trick is to avoid any move in the wrong direction, any step that is counterproductive.
The Fundamental Questions
Begin by asking very specific questions such as ...
* Who will I sell to?
* What will I sell?
* How will I sell it?
* How can a website help get it done?
* What are my financial goals for this venture?
These are not easy to answer. Yet completely defining suitable responses is mandatory. Without them, much of what you do will be a waste of time and effort. On the other hand, answer them definitively, and every move you make will lead you closer to your objective.
The last question may be the easiest to answer. For many, it will be, "To build a business working part time that will grow sufficiently for me to give up my day job and work my online business full time." What follows assumes your answer is similar.
The first question may be the most difficult to answer. But it is the one that matters most because you are going to spend a lot of time directly or indirectly with your customers. It is hard to be effective with people you do not enjoy being around. (For ideas about finding an answer, see "Who Do You Want To Sell To.")
Finding appropriate answers to the above questions requires a good deal of study and thought. As you proceed, focus on all of them collectively. That is, as you think about who you want sell to, also consider products to be sold and ways of doing so, To get started, jot down a few thoughts about each as a beginning point. With these notes, search for ideas and information to help you flesh out a full fledged business plan.
This process will take months, not days. Whatever it takes, it's better to know where you are headed before committing the bucks and time needed to build a website.
The First Step
This may sound like heresy to seasoned professionals, but the failure to understand what great ad copy is all about, and the lack of skills needed to produce it, is a very common cause of business failure, particularly online. So start here.
Start with copywriting? Have you lost it?
No. Not at all. Copywriting comes after all else is done except building the site. By then you are tired, filled with self-doubt, and doing all possible to minimize committing to even one more small chore. So the final copy on the site often looks and reads as something done hastily and at the last minute. Avoid this calamity by beginning your study right now. Be ready when the time comes to write great pages. Nothing less works.
There is an added bonus in seeking to develop or improve copywriting skills. Almost every gain is also an asset to all other writing you do, including what is needed for your email and newsletter. No writing I have ever done is more demanding than copywriting. Improved skills in this area means better results with all of your writing.
There is no need to master copywriting at this point. But get started with the task. If you have not decided on a product, you can't say who your perfect customer will be. But you can come to grips with the concept of building such an image.
There are many books on copywriting. Grab one or two and dig in. The very best in my mind is "Make Your Words Sell" by Joe Robson. For my review of this awesome piece of work, see "Dance With Your Customers."
About Reading
You are going to do a lot of reading in all this. A lot of ideas you have never encountered will be presented. You will find it impossible to grasp everything. The trick is to skim a lot, read points that grab you, take a few notes, then lay the piece aside and turn to another. When you come back to it later, you will gain additional insights, for you will be further down the path toward your goal.
Finding A Niche
A niche is a narrow slice of a larger market. A slice with an audience large enough to produce the income you need, but otherwise as narrow as possible. And it needs to be something in which you can dominate powerfully. You want to be *the guru* within your niche.
Finding your niche may be the hardest part of all. Not the work involved, but the time, particularly the thinking time. Yet this is absolutely the last thing to rush. For if you don't get this right, nothing is going to work at all well.
For articles about finding just what you need, see "Niche Finding Made Easy" and "Define A Niche, Then Conquer" further along in this chapter. Also visit my site, SiteTipsAndTricks.Com. Click on Topics in the navigation bar to the left. Then click on Niche Marketing. You will find a lot of helpful notes here. Some of Dr. Michel Fortin's work is included, and his conclusions are inarguable.
Finding A Product
As mentioned, working with copywriting and seeking to define your niche need to evolve together. That is, as you make progress in one area, move ahead a bit in the other.
Now to this mix, add the search for possible products and services. And throughout, continue to try to picture who you want to sell to. To define your perfect customer.
Without a doubt, the best product to sell is one you create. This gives you total control. You may even invite others to assist in selling it. There is profit to be made in selling products produced by others, but much more in products you produce.
As in most areas, there are lots of resources available that show you how to identify a need and create an appropriate product. One of the best is "Make Your Knowledge Sell" by Monique Harris. (Click here for my review of this comprehensive work.)
Enough Already. How Do I Get Started?
It's best not to make a move until you have defined a niche and answered that first question: Who do you want to sell to? Until you have a clear picture of your target, and have defined within this group some possible perfect customers, you are not yet positioned effectively. Here's why.
When just getting started, you must seek to understand everything you encounter, for you do not know what you will need. Yet this is impossible to do. There are simply too many good newsletters out there to keep up with them all. Too many neat books; you can't get and read every one. And too many sites such as STAT, upon which you can spend a week or more without exhausting the resources.
But as you narrow your focus, you in turn narrow the information gathering task. Settle on half a dozen good newsletters to follow, keep as many as a dozen books handy for reference, and refuse to be distracted by anything off target. Until you can accomplish this, do not extend yourself further by tackling a newsletter or website. Such tasks steal precious time from the fundamental: Defining your target.
When You Have The Focus
Given a focus, you can begin, even if you are still searching for a good product. This can come later. But you must know who your target is.
Given this, start a newsletter, then work at trying to get feedback. When your target begins interacting with you, there are all kinds of great benefits. From their words will spring new ideas that both clarify your goals and bring you closer to achieving them. (For info about starting with only a newsletter, see "The Ultimate Shoestring Startup" further along in these notes.)
And consider opening a website. Whether or not you have a product, focus on building great content.
But even with a website, you need to build a newsletter. This is no longer optional; people expect you to have one. A newsletter is the most effective way to stay in touch with your target and demonstrate your growing expertise. (For details, see Chapter 6 in this work.)
Continue working on your copywriting skills. Make sure every page on the site "sells" even if it's only free information.
Keep the pages simple. Follow the unwritten rules. Let that copy you've struggled to create be the total focus of your site. Hold the art work to a minimum. A logo and a tiled background is all you really need. And whether or not you yet have a product to sell, remember that content is king. Provide all you can and do all possible to keep your visitors coming back for more.
A great resource in building a site that sells effectively is "Make Your Site Sell" by Ken Evoy. It's another heavy read, not to be accomplished in a single sitting. (Click here for my review.)
Good hosting is available from Pair.Com beginning at $5.95/month. But you will need some statistics; Hitmatic, which is free, may be sufficient at least initially. JumpLine.Com is available at $14.95/month, and the statistics included meet most needs.
What Next?
Continue to search for products that fit your defined target. And continue to seek an unfulfilled need within your target that you can satisfy with a product you create.
Given a product, it's time to really zero in on your perfect customer. Everything in your newsletter and on your site must be directed at this target. It's fine if others join in, but it's impossible to talk to two different types of people at the same time. Grab a tight focus and stick to it.
Wrapping Up
This plan may not be as easy to accomplish as you had hoped. It requires time, work, and effort. And there are things to be learned. But it is doable. Anybody who persists can make it happen.
Niche Finding Made Easy
Suppose you love books. Everything about them. You read voraciously. And you'd just love to write some reviews and sell the books you particularly enjoy. But hey, forget that. Right? An individual doesn't stand a chance in the book business. Right? If Barnes & Noble doesn't seem able to catch Amazon, you're not going to get it done. Right?
Well, yes and no. It's true you are not likely to beat Amazon, even if they falter in that heady race with Barnes & Noble. But if you change the rules some, you can win.
If you select a specific area, one sufficiently narrow, you can beat these companies in this niche. Few books are being published in what was previously called Male Adventure. Yet men still read when they can find an author they enjoy. I don't know this would work, but it's a possibility worth checking.
Maybe specialize in technical works, not available through major book stores. Then of course there are rare books; a narrow niche within this category might be just the ticket. Just think books. Write down every idea that comes to mind. Make a note of every interest or skill you can bring to the table.
Testing Demand And Supply
Then try to find combinations of ideas that might work for you. As Ken Evoy has suggested, work up a list of keywords for areas you feel are possibilities. Enter these words at GoTo.Com What you will get is a list of related terms people searched for last month. The counts for each item can be taken as a measure of demand. Then go to AltaVista and enter any phrases with a high demand and note the number of listings found. This is a measure of supply. The most promising areas are those for which demand (counts at GoTo) is relatively high and supply (counts at AltaVista) is relatively low.
(The link to GoTo.Com above is:
inventory.go2.com/inventory/searchInventory.mp )
Somewhere in this list there is a combination of books and your skills and interests with which you can define a niche. It may not be obvious at first glance, but if you pursue this approach determinedly, you will find a great niche.
Think About Ebooks
Ebooks are growing in popularity. A while back I looked into them just for the heck of it, thinking I might uncover something of interest. I did not find a specific market that has not been touched, but I bet it's there.
I did find an idea, though. With so many people publishing ebooks, there is definitely room for a great ebook compiler. The Adobe PDF format is popular, but the compiler produces post-script files that are huge. And I don't find the reader easy to use. NeoBooks is an option, but probably unnecessarily complex to use. And it excludes MAC users; there is a reader for PDF files on MACs.
I'm not planning to write a new compiler. I have included this thought only as an example of things that may come up unexpectedly while you are searching for something else. Each such idea is a possible opportunity.
Look For Connections
As I was working on another article, I opened the top drawer of my desk and grabbed the highlighter. Beneath it was an old coin my grandfather gave me years back. A penny. Dated 1849. I know nothing about coins. But this one may even be copper. It's larger than the current crop. It's worn, but the markings are still quite legible. So what's it worth? Nothing? $5000? I have no idea.
I love history. How long would it take me to learn enough about coins to safely buy and sell them? I can't say, for I've never looked into it.
But it would be easy enough to read a book or two, then see if I could find some action on eBay.Com.
There would be little risk in testing. Put the two ideas together, and I've got coins with a history. Maybe it's a joke. Maybe it would work. Easy enough to check it out.
Opening a site on which you plan to sell and trade rare coins, is likely to put you head to head with older more established sites that will bury you. To identify a niche, you must find good answers to the following.
* What can you offer they do not?
* Why will people come to you rather than going to them?
* What will you be able to say about yourself and your site that sets you apart from them?
Regardless of the competition you face, there will be less if you focus on . . .
* Coins of the 19th Century (or the century of your choice)
* Roman Coins (or Greek)
* Gold Coins (Or silver coins, or maybe both)
* Spanish Plunder: Coins With A Bloody History
Obviously there needs to be a market for what you settle on. But assuming there is one, you can see how much easier it is to answer the questions above about the need for a narrower focus.
In a narrow niche, it is much easier to set yourself apart from your competitors. Much easier to let your site speak for itself and demonstrate your expertise. And it answers the question of why people should come to you, for you are now a specialist, soon to become an expert.
You will find your pages will have better positions on the search engines. In fact much better. A different set of keywords emerges from your selected subset of all coin dealers.
The Right Niche Makes It Happen
Targeted marketing is what it's all about; it's a must. You do not want visitors who do not want what you offer. They are not buyers and will only waste your time, resources, and bandwidth.
Start by listing everything you enjoy doing or talking about. Everything. I've no idea how to relate golf and history, but if you like both, put them on your list.
The oddest things can lead to something really neat. This article came from an old penny in the top drawer of my desk. Check out your hidden and/or forgotten treasures. Be alert to every crazy notion that comes to mind. Somewhere in this madness, you will find a niche worth capturing.
Define A Niche, Then Conquer!
Looking for a quality baseball cap? Hey, it's easy. Check out the material and workmanship. Grab a color you like, and maybe a team logo. You don't even have to try it on! Thanks to the little strap in the back, one size fits all. A marketer's dream.
You can still buy baseball caps that are sized. But they cost a good deal more and you have to buy in quantity. That little strap put a lot of cap manufactures flat out of business.
Declining Options
You see this happening across the spectrum of manufactured products.
There is need now and then for me to spend serious time in the kitchen. Which includes washing dishes.
I found a great sponge some years back. Dark green on one side with a roughness to it that really does a number on a pot or frying pan. The other side is yellow, a more typical kind of manufactured sponge. Softer and thicker, it's great for polishing off the heavy scrub. Each lasts about a month, longer if you don't mind some frayed edges.
The last batch I bought looked identical to what I had been getting. But they don't last but about a week. And they do not do nearly as good a job, which means more work. No doubt I paid less, but in the long run, the cheaper version may cost me more. Yet they will likely put the original manufacturer out of business.
Will People Pay For Quality?
My answer is a resounding, "Yes!" If I can find the original sponge mentioned above, I will buy it without even a glance at the price. It's a tool that simplifies a task.
When it comes to tools, I want the best, for they last longer and make the job easier all the while. A lot of people feel the same way.
Quality tools of any kind can become the basis of a profitable niche market. Sized baseball caps sell only on style and comfort. Thus this is not as good a starting point. There are not nearly as many people willing to pay twice the going rate for style as there are who will do so for quality tools.
A Difficult Task
Defining a niche is tough to do. But those who intend to succeed on the Web into the future, must find and conquer one. They must become the dominant name within it. They must provide great content that demonstrates expertise, over-deliver with quality products, and provide extremely high levels of support to all.
But Where Do I Start?
Throughout the offline world, independent merchants have been forced to join hands with large suppliers to the extent many are not free to stock in areas which conflict with the wishes of the suppliers. This may be most obvious in your local hardware store. Most of the stock comes through Ace Hardware or True Value Hardware.
When the owner of the store you favor says, "We can't get those any more," he usually means the supplier no longer handles the item. And because of agreements, he is not free to go elsewhere for it. More than likely, the supplier has replaced what you want with a less expensive product that may or may not measure up to its predecessor in performance.
Quality Is Available
The drill bits available in your local store are not very expensive. But they are not great tools. Those who use bits regularly as a part of their work, may pay twice as much as you will pay. But the bits they buy will outperform and outlast their less expensive cousins many, many times over.
Hardware Stores And Niche Marketing
Tools are a major item in a hardware store. But the store's target is Mr. and Mrs. Average Consumer. Most do not need great quality and would not pay the greater price even if the better item was available. But some would. Therein lies the key.
While your local hardware store may find it unprofitable to stock professional tools, may even be prevented by contracts from doing so, many customers would like the option to buy better quality.
The Web makes it possible to profitably offer only the best. The few who would buy top of the line in a given shop if it were available are collectively a target of considerable size.
Starting Small
Several years back I discovered bricks of fire starter cubes. Just touch a match to one, and you can ignite a pretty good sized chunk of firewood, provided it is split. Joy! No more kindling. No more nursing things along. No frustrating restarts. Just stack it, add a cube, and touch it with a lighted match.
About eight years back, the hardware store changed brands. (Translate: Supplier changed brands.) They look the same. Cost the same. But it usually takes several matches. (And scorched fingers!) Further, it often takes several cubes.
Make Money Starting Fires?
I can almost hear what you are saying. "Stuff and nonsense," would be one of the kindlier remarks. But a successful Web business can be built upon just such a simple tool.
If you live in a city, a fire in the evening is likely not a necessity, only something that adds ambiance to other activity. For those who live with the first snowfall of winter lying about them until spring, a fire is often much more than a luxury. Most everyone who lives in the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas as I do uses a wood stove throughout the winter. Many have no other source of heat.
Okay, so there are a lot of people who start wood fires. But fire starter cubes? Get serious! Where's the buck in this?
Have You Got What I Want?
If you can provide good fire starter cubes, the kind I have not been able to find locally for many years, I will visit your site once each year as a minimum. Think of the accessories you can offer me when I do.
Wood boxes. All sorts of items in which wood can be stored.
Moving wood is a pain. An effective dolly or cart would be a great help. Something that moves easily over icy snow will be in great demand in some places.
Few would buy a stove from you for most need the support of installation. So turn this to your advantage. Let your expertise regarding stoves become the central core of your site. The differences between stoves are enormous. And defining a best choice according to needs is extremely difficult.
Along the path to expertise there are many helpful resources. Company sales presentations and specifications are a good beginning point. Write a good article about a particular stove, then call the company and ask for someone to read it before you publish. Most will jump at the opportunity. And you will discover details of importance overlooked or not available earlier. You may even take this first contact into a drop shipment arrangement for an occasional sale. Do it right, and advertising revenue can be generated.
But getting back to other products you can offer, add the best wax for a tiled hearth. Brick bracer. And all it takes to keep a stove looking great. And something to deal effectively with those bugs that sneak in with the wood.
Then there are teapots to be perched on top of the stove, to add a bit of welcome humidity. Tools to clear the ashes within the stove. Then there's chimney cleaning gear.
Even attractive pillows for the pup. which keeps the carpet clean. And something for the cat as well, though I've no idea what.
Wrapping Up
While the above notion has merit, it is flawed in that it is seasonal. Were I to tackle this, I would probably search for another niche that was summer based, and work this through another site. Maybe barbecues and outdoor cooking.
Tools came to mind because I like good ones and they are not easy to find. Since lots of people feel the same way, this is a good starting point. Cook ware comes to mind.
Yes, I know the Web is loaded with cook ware shopping malls. But have you looked at the products? They are virtually all the same. There is not only an opportunity here to sell quality, but to sell specialty items. What's out there now kind of reminds me of baseball caps in a way. We hope you agree that a eight inch frying pan is as small as is needed.
Since I only fry a couple eggs at a time, I'd rather have a five inch pan. Show me one of quality and I'll pay your price.
Knock Off The Guru!
You've done it. You've found a great niche and a target within it you really enjoy working with. It's an area in which you already have sufficient expertise for a great start and you feel confident that within a very short time, you can master the whole of it. You even have some good products in mind. Further it has potential in the near term, with even more over time. It's just perfect. Exactly what you have been searching for.
But dominating this niche is The Guru. There's a website that seems to be working well. Lots of interactivity, so while you don't have a visitor count, there seems to be good traffic. And a newsletter. So what now? Forget it, right? Look for greener pastures, right?
No. Look closer.
You May Yet Win
Years back a friend of mine who understood the grocery business gave me a winning formula for most any business. "If you want to start a grocery business [supermarket these days]," he said, "Identify the best store in town, open up right across the street, then beat them."