Everyone, absolutely everyone, has a special interest... a passion. Everyone knows something that is of value to others… something that others on the Net seek.
Passion makes work fun and easy…• What is it that you love to talk about? Read about?
• What is your hobby?
• What do you do for fun and games?
• What are your natural talents?
Don’t forget to look right under your nose...• What special body of knowledge have you learned from your job?
• What do you do day after day, without even thinking about it (ex., child-rearing, taking care of sick parents, renovation contractor, customs inspector).
Think about what you do in a typical day, and what you’ve learned from it…
• What sections of a bookstore or a magazine shop do you automatically gravitate toward?
What activities do you enjoy most about your current occupation?...
• Is it research?
• Helping customers achieve their goals?
• Managing other people?
• Teaching or explaining things to others?
• Talking/selling on the phone?
• Organizing things?
• Making a process easier?
• Discovering or creating new products or services?
• Marketing products?
Problems are also a good source for ideas because problems need solutions!…• What’s tedious?
• What does not work?...
We all encounter obstacles, problems, and nasty people in the course of whatever it is that we do every day. What are the three biggest problems in your work place? What are your biggest pains as a parent, or as a stepparent, or as a gardener, etc.?
Now repeat all the questions above, except pretend that you are in a “five years ago” time warp. Yes, ask yourself the same questions, except place yourself where you were five years ago. Next, repeat for ten years ago. To paraphrase an old saying...
“You’ve forgotten more about some things than other folks will ever know.”Call friends. Ask your kids. Phone your parents or your siblings… or anyone else who can jog your memory. It’s so easy to miss what others see.
Your mission, should you decide to accept it (!), and it is not as easy as it sounds, is to find a subject that you really know and like.
Here are a few examples of starting points to get your neurons firing...
Advertising
Aerospace
Agriculture/farming Antiques and
collectibles
Apparel/clothing/fashi on
Architecture/buildings Arts & Crafts
Auctions
Automotive
Aviation
Beverages
Books
Chemicals
Children/parenting Cleaning
Communications
Computers
Construction
Consulting
Conventions/Trade Shows
Design
Disabilities
Education
Electronics
Employment
Energy
Engineering
Entertainment
Environment
Ergonomics
Financial services Food
Gambling
Games
Government
Health
Hobbies
Home/garden/flowers/ plants
Hospitality
Information
Jewelry
Law
Manufacturing
Minerals
Music
New age
Office supplies
Publishing
Real Estate
Religion/Spirituality Research and
Development
Retail management Science
Security
Sex
Software
Sports
Telecommunications Toys
Trade
Transportation
Travel
Video
Weather
Take your time on this -- the final concept will, after all, form the foundation for your affiliate business. So, now that you have read this far, review all the above brain-stimulators with pen and paper (or keyboard) in hand.
Write down concepts as they hit you -- make the list as long as you can. Don’t censor yourself. Just write down ideas for Site Concepts as they occur.
Next, pick the three concepts that you love the most and that you think would have some appeal for others -- this is your “short list” of Site Concepts. Remember... if a concept really turns you on, you won’t be working. You’ll be playing. So focus on topics that you love.
You are now at a critical LOOP POINT. What do I mean by that? Well, at this point, there is no way to tell you which Site Concept to pick. Here’s why...You definitely know which Site Concept excites you the most, but you have no idea which one is most profitable. You do not have enough information yet.
Solution? Simply start with the Site Concept that excites you the most. As you accumulate more information during DAYS 2, 3, and 4, grow your concept so that you maximize its profit potential.
For example, let’s say that your passion is the Renaissance artist , Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510), a highly individual and graceful artist who fell out of fashion and died in obscurity. (Hey, in art, ya gotta be good to die broke!) It’s your passion to give this man his due on the Net.
At first glance, the focus is rather narrow. It might be difficult to develop enough HIGH-PROFITABILITY topics to attract sufficient targeted traffic (DAY 3). And there may not be many affiliate programs to develop a substantial primary monetization model (DAY 4).
On the other hand...• that may not matter to you -- the passion may be primary, while the money is secondary to you.
Or...
• since you really are an expert, you just may succeed in developing tons of Keyword-Focused topics to be able to create lots of high value KeywordFocused Content Pages about Botticelli. You may end up “owning” this niche. And, while completing the prep work, you may discover...
• a superb art gallery that specializes in Botticelli, but that gets zero Net traffic
• a Botticelli museum in Florence.
The stock photo service has an affiliate program. You set up a private referral arrangement with the other two. You’re in e-business heaven!
Or...
Do you stop at Botticelli?...
http://www.artchive.com/artchive/B/botticelli.html
Or do you grow your idea to include all Renaissance artists?... http://www.artchive.com/artchive/renaissance.html
Or do you grow your idea to include all artists?... http://www.artchive.com/artchive/ftp.html
Or do you grow it into a comprehensive art portal?... http://artchive.com/
Of course, you don’t have to go “the whole hog” all at once. You can start with Botticelli and widen the scope of your site over time.
Mark Harden, the owner of artchive.com (above), definitely fits the model of someone who started out with a simple passion... building an art site. He has leveraged it into one of the top 10,000 sites on the Net, and generates outstanding income from it.
How big should you grow your Site Concept? How much should you change it? Only you can decide. And you’ll be able to do that when you finish...DAY 3 - Develop HIGH-PROFITABILITY topics
If the financial potential seems limited after you have finished the above, you have three options...
It’s all up to you. Let those creative juices flow.
(A word of caution, though. Before you decide on your final choice for your Site Concept, do DAY 3 and DAY 4.)
Before proceeding to DAY 3, please complete your DAY 2 Goal-of-the-DAY, and take note of your Ongoing Goal...
Ongoing Goal... Revisit this only if you want to build an entirely new and different Theme-Based Content Site.
Now that you have 3 Site Concepts that excite you, let’s find out where the PROFITABILITY lies...